Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Let’s Talk Politics

It seems increasingly likely that health care politics will play an important role in the midterm elections come November. But unlike every election since 2010, this year finds the Democrats playing offense and the Republicans back on their heels.

There is one health proposal most Democrats and Republicans agree is a good idea — providing “reinsurance” to help insurers pay for their sickest patients, thus enabling them to lower premiums for everyone. This week, the Trump administration approved reinsurance plans requested by Maine and Wisconsin. But legislation in Congress that would extend those programs nationwide failed to get a vote in either the House or Senate earlier this year — another casualty in the partisan fight over health care.

This week’s panelists for KHN’s “What the Health?” are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

Rovner also interviews KHN’s Emmarie Huetteman, who wrote the latest Bill of the Month. It features a very expensive surgical bill and a very persistent patient. You can read it here.

If you have a medical bill you’d like NPR and KHN to investigate, you can submit it here.

And if you have a question for the podcast, you can send it to whatthehealth@kff.org.

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

Julie Rovner: The New York Times’ “Meet the Rebate, the New Villain of High Drug Prices,” by Katie Thomas

Anna Edney: USA Today’s “Hospitals Know How to Protect Mothers. They Just Aren’t Doing It,” by Alison Young

Alice Ollstein: Politico’s “Trump Policy Shop Filters Facts to Fit His Message,” by Dan Diamond

Rebecca Adams: The Atlantic’s “Being Black in America Can Be Hazardous to Your Health,” by Olga Khazan

To hear all our podcasts, click here.

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