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The Host

Julie Rovner
KFF Well being Information

Republicans Left Tribes Out of Their $50B Rural Fund. Now It’s Up to States To Share.

Complaints About Gaps in Medicare Advantage Networks Are Common. Federal Enforcement Is Rare.

Learn Julie’s tales.

Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Well being Information’ weekly well being coverage information podcast, “What the Well being?” A famous professional on well being coverage points, Julie is the writer of the critically praised reference e-book “Well being Care Politics and Coverage A to Z,” now in its third version.

Congress returns from its August recess with an extended listing of issues to do and never lots of time to do them. The fiscal yr ends Sept. 30, and it’s doable that lawmakers will fail to complete work not solely on the annual appropriations payments, but additionally on any short-term spending invoice to maintain the federal government open.

In the meantime, Medicare has introduced the primary 10 medication whose costs shall be negotiated beneath the Inflation Discount Act of 2022. Precisely how this system will work stays a query, nevertheless. Even how the method will start is unsure, as drugmakers and different teams have filed lawsuits to cease it.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Well being Information, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg College of Public Well being and Politico, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.

Panelists

Rachel Cohrs
Stat Information

@rachelcohrs

Learn Rachel’s tales

Joanne Kenen
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg College of Public Well being and Politico

@JoanneKenen

Learn Joanne’s tales

Alice Miranda Ollstein
Politico

@AliceOllstein

Learn Alice’s tales

Among the many takeaways from this week’s episode:

Exhausting-line Republicans are refusing to again even a brief authorities spending invoice, suggesting a authorities shutdown looms — with repercussions for well being packages. Whereas the Senate and Home have come to intra-chamber agreements on topics like group well being middle funding and even have handed spending payments, Congress as a complete has been unable to dealer an overarching deal.
A coalition of Home Republicans is falsely claiming that international HIV/AIDS funding by means of PEPFAR promotes abortion and is battling efforts to increase this system’s funding. PEPFAR is a bipartisan effort spearheaded by then-President George W. Bush and credited with saving tens of millions of lives.
The PEPFAR struggle underscores the dysfunction of the present Congress, which is struggling to fund even a extremely regarded, lifesaving program. One other instance is the months-long blockade of navy promotions by a freshman Republican senator, Alabama’s Tommy Tuberville, a member of the Senate Armed Companies Committee. His objections over an abortion-related Pentagon coverage have positioned him at odds with prime navy leaders, who lately warned that his heavy-handed strategy is weakening navy readiness.
The Biden administration lately introduced new staffing necessities for nursing properties, as a solution to get extra nurses into such services. However how lengthy will compliance take, contemplating ongoing nursing shortages? And the drug business is reacting to the information of which 10 medication shall be up first for Medicare negotiation, with a lot left to be sorted out.
In abortion information, a Texas effort to dam sufferers searching for abortions from utilizing the state’s roads is spreading city to city — and, regardless of being dubiously enforceable, it might nonetheless have a chilling impact.

Additionally this week, Rovner interviews Meena Seshamani, who leads the federal Medicare program, concerning the plan to start out negotiating drug costs.

Plus, for “additional credit score,” the panelists counsel well being coverage tales they learn this week that they assume you must learn, too:

Julie Rovner: JAMA Well being Discussion board’s “Well being Programs and Social Companies — A Bridge Too Far?” by Sherry Glied and Thomas D’Aunno.

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The Washington Publish’s “Warmth’s Hidden Threat,” by Shannon Osaka, Erin Patrick O’Connor, and John Muyskens.

Rachel Cohrs: The Wall Avenue Journal’s “How Novartis’s CEO Discovered From His Errors and Acquired Assist From an Unlikely Quarter,” by Jared S. Hopkins.

Joanne Kenen: Politico’s “Tips on how to Wage Struggle on Conspiracy Theories,” by Joanne Kenen, and “Court docket Revives Docs’ Lawsuit Saying FDA Overstepped Its Authority With Anti-Ivermectin Marketing campaign,” by Kevin McGill.

Additionally talked about on this week’s episode:

The Washington Publish’s “Highways Are the Subsequent Antiabortion Goal. One Texas City Is Resisting,” by Caroline Kitchener.
KFF Well being Information’ “Biden Administration Proposes New Requirements to Enhance Nursing House Staffing,” by Jordan Rau.
Stat’s “The Curious Case of J&J’s Stelara, The Unluckiest Drug on Medicare’s Record,” by Rachel Cohrs.

Credit

Francis Ying
Audio producer

Emmarie Huetteman
Editor

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KFF Well being Information is a nationwide newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about well being points and is without doubt one of the core working packages at KFF—an impartial supply of well being coverage analysis, polling, and journalism. Study extra about KFF.