Trump’s Vaccine Agenda

The Host

President Donald Trump, apparently unhappy with the slow pace of efforts to change the federal government’s childhood vaccine schedule, issued a new executive order this week that would, if implemented, upend how children are protected from communicable diseases. But there are many obstacles to carrying out the president’s initiative, both legal and political.

Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled proposed new rules for food additives this week, but the rules don’t go as far as many health advocates had hoped.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios News, and Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law.

Panelists

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

• Trump unveiled a new executive order demanding restrictions on childhood vaccine recommendations, among other changes. The main impact of his order so far is confusion, leaving parents with little information on the science that may be informing his policy pronouncements. Meanwhile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — also the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in the state — is investigating the American Academy of Pediatrics over its vaccine positions.
• The Senate confirmed Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Erica Schwartz. And during a meeting with CDC workers, Kennedy expressed distrust of career scientists — another blow to staff morale.
• The Trump administration finalized a rule that would strip federal Medicaid funding for states that provide certain care to transgender minors, putting added financial pressure on states. And several GOP-controlled states are passing on the federal government’s self-attestation grace period for Medicaid work requirements, forcing enrollees to start immediately proving with documentation that they qualify for an exemption to the requirements.

Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Paula Andalo, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month,” about a medical tourist who searched for a better price for elective surgery abroad before finding it out-of-state. If you have a bill that’s outrageous, inscrutable, or just plain infuriating, you can share it with us here.

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

Julie Rovner: Health Affairs’ “Remembering Bob Blendon, an Essential Professor, Teacher, and Mentor,” by Mollyann Brodie.

Anna Edney: CBS News’ “Farm Linked to Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Hadn’t Been Inspected in 7 Years as FDA Lags on Foreign Inspection Targets,” by Julia Ingram.

Sandhya Raman: NOTUS’ “An Antidote to the Anti-Vaccine Movement Lives in Rural West Virginia,” by Margaret Manto.

Maya Goldman: The New York Times’ “To Improve Student Mental Health, University of Michigan Eases Grading,” by Mark Arsenault.

Also mentioned in this week’s podcast:

• MedPage Today’s “I Thought the CDC Shooting Was Rock Bottom. We’re Still Sinking,” by Anonymous.
• The Wall Street Journal’s “Trump Turns Up the Heat on RFK Jr. To Cut Back Childhood Vaccines,” by Liz Essley White.
• Politico’s “The Trump Admin Offered Sick Medicaid Patients a 1-Year Lifeline. These Red States Are Rejecting It,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein and Robert King.

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This article first appeared on KFF Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.