KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Fact-Checking President Trump’s State Of The Union
February 6, 2020
KFF Health News Original
President Donald Trump spent a good deal of time on health issues in his State of the Union address, but not everything he said checks out. Meanwhile, Iowa Democrats heading into the caucuses said health is their top issue, but it’s hard to see how that played out in their actual choices. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Julie Appleby and NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin about the latest “Bill of the Month” feature.
As Covid Surges In South, Florida Detects Variant First Identified In Colombia
July 29, 2021
Morning Briefing
Florida’s community transmission is ranked “high” by the CDC, possibly playing a role in the local detection of cases of a new covid variant (B.1.621) first detected in Colombia. Meanwhile, Texas’ case rate tops 10,000 daily for the first time in nearly six months, and southern hospitals are strained.
Biden Scrapping Trump Plan To Shift 340B Discounts on Insulin, Epi-Pens
June 16, 2021
Morning Briefing
The policy would have threatened to withhold grant funds from community health centers if they charged low-income patients more than what they paid for the life-saving injections. Other news is on the increasing price of Medicare drugs, incentives at skilled nursing facilities, Florida’s Medicaid budget and a program in Connecticut that will give “baby bonds” to new parents on Medicaid.
As Threat of Valley Fever Grows Beyond the Southwest, Push Is On for Vaccine
By Jim Robbins
September 4, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Efforts are underway to bring to market a vaccine for valley fever, a fungal infection with COVID-like symptoms that occurs in the deserts of the Southwest. The illness is getting more attention as cases rise and a warming climate threatens to spread it through the West.
House Panel Advances $120B HHS Budget Bill; Senate Spending Deals On Uncertain Ground
July 16, 2021
Morning Briefing
Annual funding for the Department of Health and Human Services would get a 24% boost in the package approved by the House Appropriations Committee Thursday. On the Senate side, congressional reporters track the status of intertwined infrastructure and “human infrastructure” spending measures.
Timeline: History Of Blocking Regulation Of Electronic Health Records
November 22, 2019
KFF Health News Original
Over the past decade, government efforts to create a national system to track and analyze deaths, injuries and other adverse incidents linked to electronic health records repeatedly have failed amid opposition from the technology industry and its supporters in Congress.
Six Drugmakers Warned To Reinstate 340B Discounts Or Face Steep Fines
May 18, 2021
Morning Briefing
The Health Resources and Services Administration sent letters to AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi and United Therapeutics. They could face a $5,000 penalty for every violation.
Some Rejoice Over New California Health Insurance Subsidies. Others Get Shut Out.
By Ana B. Ibarra
December 12, 2019
KFF Health News Original
There’s something new in this year’s Covered California open-enrollment period: Consumers are learning whether they will qualify for new state-funded financial aid. The results are mixed, with some scoring hundreds of dollars per month and others nothing.
Alaska’s Health Services Still Recovering From Cyberattack
June 3, 2021
Morning Briefing
In other news, Arizona’s plans to use a poison labelled Zyklon B by the Nazis for executions draw condemnation; smokable medical marijuana is backed by Louisiana lawmakers; and a Dallas high school valedictorian spoke out over Texas’ new anti-abortion laws.
A Coronavirus Vaccine: Where Does It Stand?
By Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact
July 16, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Under ordinary circumstances, these phases of vaccine development can take years to complete. But now, during the age of coronavirus, the timeline is being shortened. Here’s an inventory of where things stand.
OxyContin Settlement Grows To $4.28B
March 16, 2021
Morning Briefing
The restructuring plan with Purdue Pharma includes another $1.5 billion and also ensures that the money will largely be spent to help curb the nation’s opioid crisis, rather than going into states’ general coffers, The Wall Street Journal reported.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: How Will We Reopen The Economy?
April 16, 2020
KFF Health News Original
The politics of COVID-19 are pretty polarized, but health experts across the ideological spectrum agree: The U.S. will need more robust testing before it’s safe to relax social-distancing requirements. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, Congress and the nation’s governors continue to spar over who should be responsible for what. Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider, Tami Luhby of CNN and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.
‘An Arm And A Leg’: What We’ve Learned And What’s Ahead For The Show
By Dan Weissmann
February 14, 2020
KFF Health News Original
For this bonus episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” Dan Weissmann gives up the host’s chair and answers questions from reporter and colleague Sally Herships.
Underfunded And Understaffed Public Health Workforce To Get $7.4B Injection
May 14, 2021
Morning Briefing
The White House announced that the funds come from the recent relief bill and will be used to hire additional public health workers and modernize the existing departments.
Massachusetts Recruits 1,000 ‘Contact Tracers’ To Battle COVID-19
By Martha Bebinger, WBUR
April 14, 2020
KFF Health News Original
“I know we will succeed somewhat and we will fail somewhat,” says one of the plan’s chief architects. “We won’t be able to find every single person — but we will hopefully prevent a lot of deaths.”
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Blowing The Whistle On Trump Team’s COVID Policies
May 7, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Frustration from inside the Trump administration over the management of the COVID-19 pandemic is starting to become public, as whistleblowers ― some anonymous, some named — tell how the effort is being undermined by favoritism, incompetence and a disdain for science. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court heard a case that could threaten the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Rachana Pradhan of Kaiser Health News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Also, for “extra credit,” the panelists recommend their favorite stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Huge Windfall: Pfizer Will Rake In $26B For Covid Vaccine Sales In 2021
May 5, 2021
Morning Briefing
That would make it the biggest-selling pharmaceutical product in the world. The company, which splits its covid vaccine earnings 50-50 with BioNTech, expects demand to continue for years.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: The Affordable Care Act Turns 10
March 19, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Next week is the 10th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. Millions of Americans have benefited from the law, yet its future is in the hands of both the Supreme Court and voters in November. For this special episode of “What the Health?” host Julie Rovner interviews Kathleen Sebelius, who was Obama’s secretary of Health and Human Services when the law was passed. Then Rovner, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News discuss its history, impact and prospects for the future.
Dialysis Patients Panic As Financial ‘Life Raft’ Becomes Unmoored
By Ana B. Ibarra
November 14, 2019
KFF Health News Original
An organization that helps nearly 4,000 California dialysis patients pay for their insurance is threatening to cut off aid in January because of a new law that is expected to reduce dialysis industry profits. Patients fear they won’t be able to afford their life-saving treatment.
Obamacare Co-Ops Down From 23 to Final ‘3 Little Miracles’
By Phil Galewitz
September 9, 2020
KFF Health News Original
Once there were 23 of these nonprofit plans across 26 states; in January there will be only three, serving Maine, Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.