The Prescription Drug Playbook, Part II
In this second part of a two-part series on dealing with the high price of prescription drugs, experts share their insider tips.
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Trump’s Bill Reaches the Finish Line
Episode 404The House on Thursday moved to approve the largest-ever cuts to federal safety net programs, the last step before the measure goes to President Donald Trump’s desk. After the Senate very narrowly passed the bill, House GOP leaders ushered it past resistance from conservatives wary of adding trillions to the federal debt and moderates concerned about its cuts to Medicaid. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has continued to pursue his anti-vaccine agenda, despite promising that he would not. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
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As Mosquito Season Peaks, Officials Brace for New Normal of Dengue Cases
In recent years, locally acquired dengue cases have appeared in California, Florida, and Texas, parts of the U.S. where the disease isn’t endemic. Health and vector control officials worry that with climate change and the lack of a vaccine, dengue will take hold in a larger swath of North America.
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A Texas Boy Needed Protection From Measles. The Vaccine Cost $1,400.
A family living in Galveston was surprised to be charged thousands of dollars for immunizations for their children. Their insurance plan didn’t cover the shots, and the cost of the measles vaccine in particular was more than five times what health officials say it goes for in the private sector.
Live From Aspen — Governors and an HHS Secretary Sound Off
Episode 403In this special episode taped before a live audience at Aspen Ideas: Health, three former governors — one of whom also served as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services — discuss how state and federal officials can work together to improve Americans’ health. Democrat Kathleen Sebelius, former Kansas governor and HHS secretary under President Barack Obama; Republican Chris Sununu, former New Hampshire governor; and Democrat Roy Cooper, former North Carolina governor, join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner.
Supreme Court Upholds Bans on Gender-Affirming Care
Episode 402The Supreme Court this week said Tennessee may continue to enforce its law banning most types of gender-affirming care for minors. The ruling is likely to greenlight similar laws in two dozen states. And the Senate is preparing to vote on a budget reconciliation bill that includes even deeper Medicaid cuts than the House version. Victoria Knight of Axios, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
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Q&A: What Does the Budget Bill Mean for Your Health?
KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner answers listeners’ questions about how the “One Big Beautiful Bill” could affect health care in Washington, D.C., and beyond.
By Julie Rovner The Prescription Drug Playbook, Part I
Season 13, Episode 9In Part 1 of a two-part series on dealing with the high price of prescription drugs, a father explains the strategies he used to get his daughter the medicine she needs to treat her epilepsy.
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‘Not Accountable to Anyone’: As Insurers Issue Denials, Some Patients Run Out of Options
Health insurers issue millions of prior authorization denials every year, leaving many patients stuck in a convoluted appeals process, with little hope of meaningful policy change ahead. For doctors, these denials are frustrating and time-consuming. For patients, they can be devastating.
RFK Jr. Upends Vaccine Policy, After Promising He Wouldn’t
Episode 401Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week did something he had promised not to do: He fired every member of the scientific advisory committee that recommends which vaccines should be given to whom. And he replaced them, in some cases, with vaccine skeptics. Meanwhile, hundreds of employees of the National Institutes of Health sent an open letter to the agency’s director, accusing the Trump administration of policies that “undermine the NIH mission.” Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
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Listen: With Vital Health Research Defunded, Who’s Losing Out?
From Florida to California, National Institutes of Health grant cuts have halted research studies on HIV, vaccines, and health equity — affecting red and blue states alike.
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Watch: RFK Jr. Dismisses All 17 Members of Vaccine Advisory Committee
KFF Health News’ Céline Gounder joined CBS Evening News to discuss the unprecedented move by the Health and Human Services secretary.
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Echoing 2020, Police Use Rubber Bullets Against Protesters in Los Angeles
“Less lethal” weapons are once again being used in Los Angeles — against people protesting the Trump administration’s immigration raids. With terms like “foam,” “sponge,” and “bean bag,” the projectiles may sound harmless. They’re not.
Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Lands in Senate. Our 400th Episode!
Episode 400The House’s gigantic tax-and-spending budget reconciliation bill has landed with a thud in the Senate, where lawmakers are divided in their criticism over whether it increases the deficit too much or cuts Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act too deeply. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that the bill, if enacted, could increase the ranks of the uninsured by nearly 11 million people over a decade won’t make it an easy sell. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Arielle Zionts, who reported and wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature, about a Medicaid patient who had an out-of-state emergency.
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Trump Decried Crime in America, Then Gutted Funding for Gun Violence Prevention
The U.S. Department of Justice canceled $500 million in grants to public safety organizations nationwide, including some that address gun violence. A clinic in St. Louis lost a $2 million award to develop a mobile clinic, increase mental health services, and engage the community.
A Mathematical Solution for US Hospitals?
Season 13, Episode 8An immigrant mathematician is on a mission to save U.S. hospitals billions of dollars and improve the lives of doctors, nurses, and patients. At one hospital, it's working.
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Watch: In a ‘Dead Zone,’ Doctors Don’t Practice and Telehealth Doesn’t Reach
Chief rural health correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble explains how millions of rural Americans live in counties with doctor shortages and where high-speed internet connections aren’t adequate to access advanced telehealth services.
Live From AHCJ: Shock and Awe in Federal Health Policy
Episode 399This episode was taped live on Friday, May 30, at the annual conference of the Association of Health Care Journalists in Los Angeles. Host Julie Rovner moderated a panel featuring Rachel Nuzum, senior vice president for policy at The Commonwealth Fund; Berenice Núñez Constant, senior vice president of government relations and civic engagement at AltaMed Health Services; and Anish Mahajan, chief deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The panelists discussed the national, state, and local implications of funding cuts made over the first 100 days of the second Trump administration and the potential fallout of reductions that have been proposed but not yet implemented. The panelists also took questions from health reporters in the audience.
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RFK Jr. Says Healthy Pregnant Women Don’t Need Covid Boosters. What the Science Says.
Despite opposition by the leader of the Department of Health and Human Services, existing evidence on the safety and efficacy of getting a covid vaccine during pregnancy all points the same way: The shots are important for maternal and fetal health.
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Opioid Settlement Windfall: Where the Billions Are Going
Opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers have been paying billions of dollars to settle lawsuits over their role in the overdose epidemic. How to spend the money remains an open question.