KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Schrödinger’s Government Shutdown

The Host

Julie Rovner
KFF Health News

@jrovner

@julierovner.bsky.social

Read Julie’s stories.

Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A to Z,” now in its third edition.

Democrats and Republicans are both facing potential political consequences in their continuing standoff over federal government funding. Republicans are likely to face a voter backlash if they refuse to agree to Democrats’ demands that they renew additional tax credits for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans, since the majority of those facing premium hikes live in GOP-dominated states. For their part, Democrats are worried that Republicans will violate the terms of any potential spending deal.

At the same time, the Trump administration is using the shutdown to try to lay off thousands of federal workers, including those performing key public health roles at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post.

Panelists

Anna Edney
Bloomberg News

@annaedney

@annaedney.bsky.social

Read Anna’s stories.

Joanne Kenen
Johns Hopkins University and Politico

@JoanneKenen

@joannekenen.bsky.social

Read Joanne’s bio.

Lauren Weber
The Washington Post

@LaurenWeberHP

Read Lauren’s stories.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

• As the federal government shutdown drags on, there has been little progress toward a deal on government spending — or on the expiring ACA marketplace subsidies Democrats are fighting to renew. Potential subsidy compromises could, for instance, implement a minimal premium in place of $0 premiums, to reduce enrollment fraud, as Republicans want.
• A federal judge halted the Trump administration’s latest layoffs of federal workers amid questions about the layoffs’ legality. The administration in particular dealt a heavy blow this round to the CDC, an agency that has been battered by staff reductions, policy shifts, and even violence.
• New reporting shows the Trump administration explored the feasibility of tracing abortion pill residue in wastewater, following up on an anti-abortion claim that the drugs may be contaminating the water supply. Yet advocates could have an ulterior motive: developing the ability to trace use of the pill to further crack down on abortions.
• And President Donald Trump unveiled a deal with a second drugmaker, AstraZeneca, that allows the company to avoid tariffs in exchange for building a new U.S. facility. But as with the first deal, it’s unclear how much money the agreement will save patients.

Also this week, Rovner interviews health insurance analyst Louise Norris of Medicareresources.org about the Medicare open enrollment period, which began Oct. 15.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too: 

Julie Rovner: Politico’s “RFK Jr.’s Got Advice for Pregnant Women. There’s Limited Data To Support It,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein.

Anna Edney: The New York Times’ “The Drug That Took Away More Than Her Appetite,” by Maia Szalavitz.

Joanne Kenen: Mother Jones’ “From Medicine to Mysticism: The Radicalization of Florida’s Top Doc,” by Kiera Butler and Julianne McShane.

Lauren Weber: KFF Health News’ “Senators Press Deloitte, Other Contractors on Errors in Medicaid Eligibility Systems,” by Rachana Pradhan and Samantha Liss.

Also mentioned in this week’s podcast:

• The Washington Post’s “She Left the Medical Mainstream and Rose To Be RFK Jr.’s Surgeon General Pick,” by Lauren Weber and Rachel Roubein.
• The Bulwark’s “There’s Something Weirdly Familiar About This New GOP Argument,” by Jonathan Cohn.
• Politico’s “4 GOP Ideas for an Obamacare Subsidies Compromise,” by Benjamin Guggenheim.
• The New York Times’ “The E.P.A. Followed Up on an Unusual Request About Abortion Pills,” by Caroline Kitchener and Coral Davenport.
• Bloomberg News’ “WHO Warns Against Three India-Made Cough Syrups After Child Deaths,” by Satviki Sanjay.

Credits

Francis Ying
Audio producer

Emmarie Huetteman
Editor

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KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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