What the Health? From KFF Health News: A Headless CDC

The Host

Julie Rovner
KFF Health News

@jrovner

@julierovner.bsky.social

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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.

The Trump administration this week missed a deadline to nominate a new director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Without a nominee, current acting Director Jay Bhattacharya — who is also the director of the National Institutes of Health — has to give up that title, leaving no one at the helm of the nation’s primary public health agency. 

Meanwhile, a week after one federal judge blocked changes to the childhood vaccine schedule made by the Department of Health and Human Services, another blocked a proposed ban on gender-affirming care for minors. 

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th.

Panelists

Rachel Cohrs Zhang
Bloomberg News

@rachelcohrs

Lizzy Lawrence
Stat

@LizzyLaw_

@lizzylawrence.bsky.social

Ready Lizzy’s stories.

Shefali Luthra
The 19th

@shefali.bsky.social

Read Shefali’s stories.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

• A federal judge ruled against the Trump administration’s declaration intended to limit trans care for minors, though the ruling’s practical effects will depend on whether hospitals resume such care. And a key member of the remade federal vaccine advisory panel resigned as the panel’s activities — and even membership — remain in legal limbo.
• Two senior administration health posts remain unfilled, after President Donald Trump missed a deadline to fill the top job at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — and the Senate made little progress on confirming his nominee for surgeon general.
• The percentage of international graduates from foreign medical schools who match into U.S. residency positions has dropped to a five-year low. That’s notable given immigrants represent a quarter of physicians, many of them in critical but lower-paid specialties such as primary care — particularly in rural areas. Meanwhile, new surveys show that more than a quarter of labs funded by the National Institutes of Health have laid off workers and that federal research funding cuts have had a disproportionate effect on women and early-career scientists.
• And new data shows the number of abortions in the United States stayed relatively stable last year, for the second straight year — largely due to telehealth access to abortion care. And a vocal opponent of abortion in the Senate, with his eyes on a presidential run, introduced legislation to effectively rescind federal approval for the abortion pill mifepristone.

Also this week, Rovner interviews Georgetown Law Center’s Katie Keith about the state of the Affordable Care Act on its 16th anniversary.

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

Julie Rovner: Stat’s “The Potential Loophole in Trump’s Plan To Get Other Countries To Pay More for Drugs,” by John Wilkerson. 

Shefali Luthra: NPR’s “Yep. A Mom’s COVID Shot During Pregnancy Protects Her Baby, a Large Study Finds,” by Tara Haelle. 

Lizzy Lawrence: The Atlantic’s “The Meme-Washing of RFK Jr.,” by Nicholas Florko. 

Rachel Cohrs Zhang: The Boston Globe’s “‘We’re on the Inside Now’: Meet the Man Building a Political Empire Behind RFK Jr.” by Tal Kopan. 

Also mentioned in this week’s podcast:

• Stat’s “National Survey of NIH-Funded Researchers Shows Precarious State of U.S. Science — ‘This Is Like the Titanic,’” by Jonathan Wosen.
• KFF Health News’ “Rising Health Costs Push Some Middle-Aged Adults To Skip the Doc Until Medicare,” by Sam Whitehead.
• Guttmacher’s “Full-Year 2025 Estimates Show Overall Stability in Abortion Incidence, Decreased Travel and Increased Telehealth Provision,” by Isaac Maddow-Zimet and Kimya Forouzan.
• United for Medical Research’s “2026 Update: NIH’s Role in Sustaining the U.S. Economy.”

Credits

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Audio producer

Emmarie Huetteman
Editor

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