HealthBent

KFF Health News’s chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, who has covered health care for more than 30 years, offers insight and analysis of policies and politics in her regular HealthBent columns.

Why Do Politicians Weaponize Medicare? Because It Works

Politicians are again pointing fingers over who wants to cut Medicare. As past Washington brawls show, the party accused of threatening popular entitlements tends to lose elections — although it’s the beneficiaries relying on lawmakers to fund it who stand to lose the most.

Ask Voters Directly, and Abortion Rights Wins Most Ballot Fights

Anti-abortion candidates have fared well in recent elections. But decades of ballot initiatives — including a half-dozen measures considered after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June — show that when voters are asked directly, they usually side with preserving abortion rights.

As Red States Push Strident Abortion Bans, Other Restrictions Suddenly Look Less Extreme

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority has yet to make clear its stand on Roe v. Wade. But state lawmakers aren’t waiting to consider a variety of extreme measures: bills that would ban abortions in cases of ectopic pregnancies, allow rapists’ families to object to terminating a victim’s pregnancy, or prohibit the procedure in the case of fetal disability. Do these proposals make the less extreme restrictions seem more mainstream?

Biden Is Caught in the Middle of Polarizing Abortion Politics

The president, one of the last of a disappearing group of politicians who sought moderate compromises on abortion policy, is frustrating supporters. They wanted faster changes in federal rules. But abortion opponents — including Catholic bishops— are also taking him to task.

Democrats Disagree About How to Spend Potential Prescription Drug Windfall

After a year of uncharacteristically being on the same page when it comes to health care, Democratic lawmakers are at loggerheads about what to do next. Most agree the time is ripe to tackle high drug prices. But they divide over whether to take savings from that to move to a ‘Medicare for All’ insurance system, enhance the current Medicare program or strengthen benefits under the Affordable Care Act.

What Biden Can Do to Combat COVID Right Now

Although President-elect Joe Biden is free to meet with people who will be vital to carry out his administration’s fight against COVID, he and his transition team are blocked from conferring with federal officials because the Trump administration refuses to acknowledge Biden won the election. That could have a critical impact on Biden’s efforts to help fight the coronavirus.

Coming Abortion Fight Could Threaten Birth Control, Too

In discussions of the impact Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett could have on abortion rights, many overlook related issues, including the right to birth control that the court recognized in 1965. During her confirmation hearings, Barrett refused to say whether she felt that case was correctly decided.