What the Health? From KFF Health News: The Hazards of ICE for Public Health

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 actions of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are having ramifications far beyond immigration. Medical groups say that ICE agents in health facilities in Minneapolis and other cities are imperiling patient care, while in Washington, the backlash from a second fatal shooting by agents in Minnesota has stalled action on an eleventh-hour suite of spending bills.

Meanwhile, anti-abortion groups remain unhappy with the Trump administration over what they see as its reluctance to scale back the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone.

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

Panelists

Maya Goldman
Axios

@mayagoldman_

@maya-goldman.bsky.social

Read Maya’s stories.

Alice Miranda Ollstein
Politico

@AliceOllstein

@alicemiranda.bsky.social

Read Alice’s stories.

Rachel Roubein
The Washington Post

@rachel_roubein

Read Rachel’s stories.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

• Concerns intensified this week over President Donald Trump’s immigration sweep after federal agents killed a second citizen in the midst of the crackdown in Minneapolis. Democrats in Congress are blocking approval of government spending as they call for renegotiating Department of Homeland Security funding, potentially forcing a partial government shutdown this weekend. In Minnesota and elsewhere, there are reports of patients postponing medical care and doctors pushing back on the presence of federal agents in hospitals.
• After the Department of Health and Human Services cut off some federal funding to Minnesota over allegations of Medicaid fraud, other Democratic-led states in particular are fearing HHS could do the same to them. Typically the federal government conducts investigations and imposes sanctions in response to concerns of fraud; it’s unusual that HHS has opted to halt some funding instead.
• Abortion opponents last week held their annual March for Life in Washington. The Trump administration marked the occasion by reinstating and expanding policies imposed during the president’s first term, including a ban on fetal tissue research and what’s known as the Mexico City Policy. Still, the administration has not made notable progress on a key goal of the anti-abortion movement: barring access to medication abortion.
• Meanwhile, senators are still trying to sort out a bipartisan compromise to restart the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies that expired last year. And insurance company executives appeared before House lawmakers last week to answer questions about affordability as the Trump administration announced a plan to keep reimbursement rates nearly flat next year for private Medicare Advantage plans.

And KFF Health News’ annual Health Policy Valentine contest is open. You can enter the contest here.

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

Julie Rovner: Science’s “U.S. Government Has Lost More Than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s Since Trump Took Office,” by Monica Hersher and Jeffrey Mervis.

Maya Goldman: NBC News’ “Many Obamacare Enrollees Have Switched to Cheaper Bronze Plans. Here’s Why That Could Be Risky,” by Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The New York Times’ “After Donations, Trump Administration Revoked Rule Requiring More Nursing Home Staff,” by Kenneth P. Vogel and Christina Jewett.

Rachel Roubein: Stat’s “HHS Appoints 21 New Members to Federal Autism Advisory Committee,” by O. Rose Broderick.

Also mentioned in this week’s episode:

• Axios’ “Fear of ICE Is Driving Patients Away From Medical Care,” by Maya Goldman.
• Annals of Internal Medicine’s “Unexplained Pauses in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Surveillance: Erosion of the Public Evidence Base for Health Policy,” by Jeremy W. Jacobs, Garrett S. Booth, Noel T. Brewer, and Janet Freilich.
• Politico’s “Trump Asks Federal Court To Hit Pause on Abortion Pill Case, Citing Ongoing Study,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein.
• The Washington Post’s “Freeze of Public Health Funds for States, Then Reversal, Sows Confusion,” by Lena H. Sun and Rachel Roubein.
• The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families’ “CMS Weaponizes Fraud Against Medicaid in Minnesota,” by Andy Schneider.
• KFF’s “KFF Health Tracking Poll: Health Care Costs, Expiring ACA Tax Credits, and the 2026 Midterms,” by Shannon Schumacher, Audrey Kearney, Mardet Mulugeta, Isabelle Valdes, Ashley Kirzinger, and Liz Hamel.

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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