Podcast

KHN’s ‘What The Health’: Who Will Pay To Fix Problem Of Surprise Medical Bills?


Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on SoundCloud.


Congress is finally getting down to real work on legislation to end “surprise” medical bills, which patients get if they inadvertently receive care from an out-of-network health providers or use one in an emergency. But doctors, hospitals, insurers and other health care payers can’t seem to agree on who should pay more so patients can pay less.

Meanwhile, the fight over women’s reproductive rights continues in both Washington, D.C., and the states. This week, governors in three states — Vermont, Illinois and Maine — signed bills to make abortions easier to obtain. At the same time, the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives took up a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services that still includes the “Hyde Amendment,” which bans most federal abortion funding — despite the fact that most House Democrats oppose the restriction. House Democratic leaders fear that the fight to eliminate the restriction would jeopardize the rest of the spending bill in the GOP-controlled Senate and at the White House.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner from Kaiser Health News, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read too:

Julie Rovner: The Washington Post’s “In Alabama — Where Lawmakers Banned Abortion for Rape Victims — Rapists’ Parental Rights Are Protected,” by Emily Wax-Thibodeaux

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The New York Times’ “Planned Parenthood to Host Women’s Health Forum for 2020 Democrats,” by Lisa Lerer

Stephanie Armour: NPR’s “You May Be Stressing Out Your Dog,” by Rebecca Hersher

Kimberly Leonard: Politico’s “Lost in Translation: Epic Goes to Denmark,” by Arthur Allen

To hear all our podcasts, click here.

And subscribe to What the Health? on iTunesStitcherGoogle PlaySpotify, or Pocket Casts.

Exit mobile version