Category: states

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Autumn of Democrats’ Discontent

Congress is back in session with a short time to finish a long to-do list, including keeping the government operating and paying its bills. Hanging in the balance is President Joe Biden’s entire domestic agenda, including major changes proposed for Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the new Texas abortion law that bans the procedure early in pregnancy is prompting action in Washington. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb about his new book on the covid-19 pandemic.

Democrats Roll the Dice on Sweeping Abortion Rights Bill — Again

Capitol Hill lawmakers mobilize to support a bill that would write abortion protections into federal law. Unlikely to succeed, the exercise follows a tactic that proved unsuccessful in 1992.

Public Health Experts ‘Flabbergasted’ That Biden Still Hasn’t Picked an FDA Chief

The Food and Drug Administration has been mired in controversies related to drug approvals and covid vaccines, all without a permanent leader.

At an Overrun ICU, ‘the Problem Is We Are Running Out of Hallways’

Billings Clinic in Montana is past the tipping point as it looks for places to add intensive care unit beds and is on the cusp of rationing care to deal with the surge of sick covid patients in a state with significant anti-vaccination sentiment.

‘An Arm and a Leg’: They Turned Grief Into Action

This episode highlights how New York enacted a charity care law, one of the precursors to the federal provision on charity care in the Affordable Care Act.  

California’s Reboot of Troubled Medi-Cal Puts Pressure on Health Plans

The nine commercial insurers in Medi-Cal must reapply by submitting bids for new contracts. The state hopes the process will improve care for low-income residents and tighten accountability, something critics say has been missing.

I Got a ‘Mild’ Breakthrough Case. Here’s What I Wish I’d Known.

I was miserable for five days, am fully recovered a month later and have learned even more about what we do and don’t know about covid now.

Scientists Examine Kids’ Unique Immune Systems as More Fall Victim to Covid

Doctors are trying to figure out why some kids become much sicker than others and, in rare cases, don’t survive.

Covid-Overwhelmed Hospitals Postpone Cancer Care and Other Treatment

Patients with advanced cancer and heart disease are among those who have had to have surgeries and other treatments delayed and rescheduled as a high number of critically ill, unvaccinated covid patients strain the medical system.

Leader of California’s Muscular Obamacare Exchange to Step Down

Peter Lee helped create Covered California, which has been lauded as a national example among the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces, and he fiercely opposed Republican efforts to repeal the federal health reform law.