the host
Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner
Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A recognized expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically acclaimed reference book Health Politics and Policy A to Z, now in its third edition.
As part of a media hype targeting women voters, Vice President Kamala Harris this week announced plans for Medicare to provide home long-term care services. The plan is particularly popular with families struggling to care for young children and elderly relatives, but the sheer cost has kept similar plans out of action for decades.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden singled out former President Donald Trump for “leading an onslaught of lies” about the federal government’s efforts to help people affected by Hurricanes Helen and Milton. Even some Republican officials say misinformation about hurricane relief efforts threatens public health.
This week’s panelists include Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Nursing and Politico.
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Here are our takeaways from this week’s episode.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ plan to expand Medicare to cover more long-term care is popular but not new, and has proven prohibitively expensive in the past. Former President Donald Trump has abandoned support for drug pricing policies he promoted during his first term. The proposal, which would lower U.S. drug prices to levels in other developed countries, is fiercely opposed by the pharmaceutical industry, raising questions about whether President Trump will soften his hardline stance on the issue. Abortion remains the top health policy issue in 2024, as Republican candidates in what appears to be a repeat of 2022 seek to distance themselves from support for abortion bans and other restrictions. Voters continue to support reproductive rights, creating a branding problem for Republicans. Trump’s ever-changing stance on abortion is an exception to what other candidates have taken. The Supreme Court returned from summer vacation and immediately refused to hear two abortion-related cases. In one case, Texas’ near-total abortion ban conflicts with a federal law that requires emergency abortions to be performed in certain cases. The other is challenging an Alabama Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that embryos frozen for in vitro fertilization have the same legal rights as born humans. The 2024 KFF Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey released this week showed premiums increased by about 7%, with the average family premium exceeding $25,000 per year. And that’s because most employers don’t cover two popular but expensive medical interventions: GLP-1 drugs for weight loss and in vitro fertilization.
This week, we’ll also include excerpts from a KFF lunch with Mark Cuban, a Shark Tank panelist and generic drug discounter who consults with the Harris campaign on medical issues.
Plus, for “extra credit,” panelists will suggest health policy articles they read this week that they think you should read, too.
Julie Rovner: KFF Health News, “Juvenile bicycle fatality plagues black neighborhood; 35 years later, still no sidewalks,” by Renuka Rayasam and Fred Klassen-Kelly.
Shefali Luthra: “Arizona voting law could change the narrative on Latina women and abortion” by Mel Leonor Berkeley.
Jesse Hellman: Congress’s “Helen Leaves Several North Carolina Elderly Care Facilities Without Power,” by Kari Brosseau.
Joanne Kennen: “After the Explosion, Her Face Was Unrecognizable; Her Placenta Recovered,” by Kate Morgan, New York Times.
Also mentioned in this week’s podcast:
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Francis Yin Audio Producer Stephanie Stapleton Editor
This article is republished from khn.org. khn.org is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is one of KFF’s core operating programs, providing independent information for health policy research, polling, and journalism. It is the source.
