Category: states

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Picking Up the Pace of Undoing Trump Policies

The Biden administration has started to speed efforts to reverse health policies forged under Donald Trump. Most recently, the administration overturned a ban on fetal tissue research and canceled a last-minute extension of a Medicaid waiver for Texas. That latter move may delay the Senate confirmation of President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Medicare and Medicaid programs, as Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) seeks to fight back. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

After Accident, Patient Crashes Into $700,000 Bill for Spine Surgery

Generous personal injury coverage on your car policy may not be enough to cover medical bills. Patients can get financially blindsided when auto insurance and health insurance policies differ.

California and Texas Took Different Routes to Vaccination. Who’s Ahead?

California stresses equity for minority groups. Texas is all about personal choice and liberty. Both are struggling to vaccinate Latinos and contending with vaccine hesitancy among conservative communities.

Censorship or Misinformation? DeSantis and YouTube Spar Over Covid Roundtable Takedown.

The Florida governor considers the pushback he received from the online video platform to be “Orwellian.” But the scientists featured at the event made specific statements YouTube deemed as “misinformation,” at odds with current public health recommendations for controlling the spread of the covid virus.

Strides Against HIV/AIDS Falter, Especially in the South, as Nation Battles Covid

Public health resources have shifted from one pandemic to the other, and experts fear steep declines in testing and diagnoses mean more people will contract HIV and die of AIDS.

Another Soda Tax Bill Dies. Another Win for Big Soda.

A bill that would have allowed California cities and counties to once again pursue taxes on sugary drinks was just shelved in the legislature without a hearing. Public health advocates blame the political — and financial — clout of the soft drink industry.

From Rotten Teeth to Advanced Cancer, Patients Feel the Effects of Treatment Delays

Health providers are seeing the consequences of pandemic-delayed preventive and emergency care, from longer hospital stays to more root canals.

After a Deadly Year on the Roads, States Push for Safety Over Speed

Lawmakers in California and other states are rethinking how they set and enforce speed limits, and they’re proposing to hand more power to local authorities to slow drivers in their communities.

UVA Health Will Wipe Out Tens of Thousands of Lawsuits Against Patients

The Virginia hospital giant had already stopped suing patients with less than $107,000 in household income.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Pause and Effect on Covid Vaccines

Podcast panelists discuss a range of health policy developments, from the latest in the covid vaccination effort to the HHS budget, among other things.