What the Health? From KFF Health News: Happy Open Enrollment Eve!

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.

Open enrollment for 2026 Affordable Care Act insurance plans starts in most states Nov. 1, with no resolution in Congress about whether to continue more generous premium tax credits expanded under President Joe Biden or let them expire at the end of this year. It is unclear whether the backlash from millions of enrollees seeing skyrocketing premiums will move Democrats or Republicans to back away from entrenched positions that are keeping most of the federal government shut down.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration — having done away earlier this year with a Biden-era regulation that prevented medical debt from being included on consumers’ credit reports — is now telling states they cannot pass their own laws to bar the practice.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.

Panelists

Paige Winfield Cunningham
The Washington Post

@pw_cunningham

Read Paige’s stories.

Maya Goldman
Axios

@mayagoldman_

@maya-goldman.bsky.social

Read Maya’s stories

Alice Miranda Ollstein
Politico

@AliceOllstein

@alicemiranda.bsky.social

Read Alice’s stories.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

• Tens of millions of Americans are bracing to lose government food aid on Nov. 1, after the Trump administration opted not to continue funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during the shutdown. President Donald Trump and senior officials have made no secret of efforts to penalize government programs they see as Democratic priorities, to exert political pressure as the stalemate continues on Capitol Hill.
• People beginning to shop for next year’s plans on the ACA marketplaces are experiencing sticker shock due to the expiration of more generous premium tax credits that were expanded during the covid pandemic. The federal government will also take a particular hit as it covers growing costs for lower-income customers who will continue to receive assistance regardless of a deal in Congress.
• In state news, after killing a Biden-era rule to block medical debt from credit reports, the Trump administration is working to prevent states from passing their own protections. In Florida, doctors who support vaccine efforts are being muffled, and the state’s surgeon general says he did not model the outcomes of ending childhood vaccination mandates before pursuing the policy — a risky proposition as public health experts caution that recent measles outbreaks are a canary in the coal mine for vaccine-preventable illnesses.
• And in Texas, the state’s attorney general, who is also running for the U.S. Senate as a Republican, is suing the maker of Tylenol, claiming the company tried to dodge liability for the medication’s unproven ties to autism. The lawsuit is the latest problem for Tylenol, with recent allegations undermining confidence in the common painkiller, the only one recommended for pregnant women to reduce potentially dangerous fevers and relieve pain.

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

Julie Rovner: KFF Health News’ “Many Fear Federal Loan Caps Will Deter Aspiring Doctors and Worsen MD Shortage,” by Bernard J. Wolfson.

Alice Miranda Ollstein: ProPublica’s “Citing Trump Order on ‘Biological Truth,’ VA Makes It Harder for Male Veterans With Breast Cancer To Get Coverage,” by Eric Umansky.

Paige Winfield Cunningham: The Washington Post’s “Study Finds mRNA Coronavirus Vaccines Prolonged Life of Cancer Patients,” by Mark Johnson.

Maya Goldman: KFF Health News’ “As Sports Betting Explodes, States Try To Set Limits To Stop Gambling Addiction,” by Karen Brown, New England Public Media.

Also mentioned in this week’s podcast:

• The Washington Post’s “Average Obamacare Premiums Are Set To Rise 30 Percent, Documents Show,” by Paige Winfield Cunningham
• KFF Health News’ “Doctors Muffled as Florida Moves To End Decades of Childhood Vaccination Mandates,” by Arthur Allen.
• CBS News’ “The Quiet Collapse of America’s Reproductive Health Safety Net,” by Céline Gounder.

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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