The Trump administration this week told states they will be allowed to require some beneficiaries of the Medicaid program to work or perform community service in order to keep their health insurance — a break with long-standing policies of both Democratic and Republican administrations.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office said that renewing the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for 10 years would actually save the federal government money, because alternative arrangements for the 9 million children now covered would be more expensive.

Plus, Paul Starr, Princeton professor and co-editor of The American Prospect, talks about his about ideas for expanding the Medicare program, if and when the political winds shift in that direction.

This week’s “What The Health?” panelist are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Sarah Kliff of Vox.com and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times.

They discuss these topics as well as the prospects for quick confirmation of former Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Alex Azar to head the department. And Rovner interviews Paul Starr.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

• The new work policy follows efforts to add a work requirement to Medicaid eligibility. But that change came through congressional action. The Trump administration’s decision to shift policy through the executive branch could complicate its legal arguments when advocates file their promised lawsuits.
• Despite concerns about the historic nature of the change in Medicaid requirements, many people — including many Medicaid enrollees — say they support a work mandate.
• The Congressional Budget Office’s revisions to estimates about the cost of the Children’s Health Insurance Program appear to be breaking the logjam on funding on Capitol Hill.
• Alex Azar, the nominee to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, appears on the glide path for confirmation, with at least two Democratic senators, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, having already announced they will vote for him.

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

Julie Rovner:  Mother Jones’ “Go Fund Yourself,” by Stephen Marche

ALSO: The New York Times’ “You’re Sick. Whose Fault Is That?” by Dhruv Khullar.

Joanne Kenen: The New York Times’ “Baltimore Hospital Patient Discharged at Bus Stop, Stumbling and Cold,” by Jacey Fortin

Sarah Kliff: Marketplace’s “The Uncertain Hour, Episode 1: The Magic Bureaucrat,” by Krissy Clark

Margot Sanger-Katz: The Wall Street Journal’s “Trump Nominee to Lead Indian Health Services Faces Claims of Misrepresentation,” by Christopher Weaver and Dan Frosch.

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