Tag: Uninsured

January 19, 2023

As US Bumps Against Debt Ceiling, Medicare Becomes a Bargaining Chip

The Host

While repealing the Affordable Care Act seems to have fallen off congressional Republicans’ to-do list for 2023, plans to cut Medicare and Medicaid are back. The GOP wants Democrats to agree to cut spending on both programs in exchange for a vote to prevent the government from defaulting on its debts.

Meanwhile, the nation’s health care workers — from nurses to doctors to pharmacists — are feeling the strain of caring not just for the rising number of insured patients seeking care, but also more seriously ill patients who are difficult and sometimes even violent.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Victoria Knight of Axios.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

Conservative House Republicans are hoping to capitalize on their new legislative clout to slash government spending, as the fight over raising the debt ceiling offers a preview of possible debates this year over costly federal entitlement programs like Medicare.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Republicans will protect Medicare and Social Security, but the elevation of conservative firebrands — like the new chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee — raises questions about what “protecting” those programs means to Republicans.
Record numbers of Americans enrolled for insurance coverage this year under the Affordable Care Act. Years after congressional Republicans last attempted to repeal it, the once highly controversial program also known as Obamacare appears to be following the trajectory of other established federal entitlement programs: evolving, growing, and becoming less controversial over time.
Recent reports show that while Americans had less trouble paying for health care last year, many still delayed care due to costs. The findings highlight that being insured is not enough to keep care affordable for many Americans.
Health care workers are growing louder in their calls for better staffing, with a nursing strike in New York City and recent reports about pharmacist burnout providing some of the latest arguments for how widespread staffing issues may be harming patient care. There is bipartisan agreement in Congress for addressing the nursing shortage, but what they would do is another question.

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week that they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: Roll Call’s “NIH Missing Top Leadership at Start of a Divided Congress,” by Ariel Cohen

Tami Luhby: CNN’s “ER on the Field: An Inside Look at How NFL Medical Teams Prepare for a Game Day Emergency,” by Nadia Kounang and Amanda Sealy

Joanne Kenen: The Atlantic’s “Don’t Fear the Handshake,” by Katherine J. Wu

Victoria Knight: The Washington Post’s “‘The Last of Us’ Zombie Fungus Is Real, and It’s Found in Health Supplements,” by Mike Hume

Also mentioned in this week’s podcast:

The New York Times’ “As France Moves to Delay Retirement, Older Workers Are in a Quandary,” by Liz Alderman

Stat’s “Congressional Medicare Advisers Warn of Higher Drug Prices, Despite New Price Negotiation,” by John Wilkerson

To hear all our podcasts, click here.

And subscribe to KHN’s What the Health? on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

September 15, 2022

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Graham’s Bill Recenters Abortion Debate

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on Acast. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) put abortion back on Republicans’ agenda this week with a legislative proposal calling for a national ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. For many in his party, it was an unwelcome intrusion that could add to public unease with the party’s efforts to limit access to abortion as they look toward the midterm elections.

The World Health Organization suggested this week that the end of the covid-19 pandemic is within sight, but that doesn’t mean there’s an end to second-guessing about how public health officials reacted or their plans going forward.

This week’s panelists are Mary Agnes Carey of KHN, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

Graham appeared to be trying to build consensus among conservatives with his bill. Republicans have been startled how the Supreme Court’s decision this summer ending a constitutional right to abortion has energized voters opposed to the move. In some red states, confusion has arisen over how strict a ban lawmakers can support. Graham’s bill would allow states to enact abortion laws that are more restrictive but would cap efforts by more progressive states to keep abortion legal later in pregnancy. He had the backing of several influential anti-abortion groups.
That didn’t seem to matter to many Capitol Hill Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was dismissive of the proposal, saying the issue needs to be dealt with on a state level, and refused to commit to bringing up the bill if Republicans capture the Senate in the fall elections. Conservatives have long argued that abortion access should be a state decision.
Graham’s announcement was inconvenient for Capitol Hill Republicans. Much of the political debate on abortion access had been focused on state races, but his bill allows Democrats to make it an issue in congressional races, too.
Groups that oppose abortion say that Graham’s effort is a good first step toward setting policy for the country, especially since states may continue to be more restrictive.
In the past, the 15-week gestational ban has been fairly well supported by the public, according to opinion polling. But new surveys suggest Americans’ views may be shifting as they witness the consequences of the Supreme Court decision and tragic stories appear about pregnancies in which fetal anomalies are discovered late or a mother’s health is impaired in late pregnancy.
On the covid-19 front, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Wednesday that the covid pandemic is not over but was upbeat about the fight against the virus. “The end is in sight,” he said.
His comments came as a group of world health experts, the Lancet Covid-19 Commission, blamed the WHO, the U.S. government, and others for insufficient coordination in fighting the disease. And a report by Politico and the German newspaper Welt looks at four non-governmental health organizations that had an influence on pandemic efforts.
Despite Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ comments, public health officials in the U.S. are pushing hard for Americans to get another covid booster this fall. And the situation points out that public health officials may not have a good handle on how to transition from treating covid as an emergency to an ongoing health threat.
The outlook is also muddled because the Biden administration has asked for more money from Congress to continue to fund vaccination and testing efforts, but congressional Republicans appear unlikely to support that effort. They believe it is time for the government to move out of that effort and allow the regular health industry to take over.
The latest statistics from the Census Bureau show a near-record low in the number of people who are uninsured. But most experts are concerned because once the covid emergency ends, states will again be allowed to recalibrate their Medicaid rolls and many people who have been covered by the federal-state health program during the pandemic could be pushed off government coverage.

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too:

Mary Agnes Carey: KHN’s “As State Institutions Close, Families of Longtime Residents Face Agonizing Choices” by Tony Leys

Rachel Cohrs: Politico’s “A New Approach to Domestic Violence” by Joanne Kenen

Sandhya Raman: The Philadelphia Inquirer’s “Philly’s Kids Are Grieving Alone From the Far-Reaching Trauma of Gun Violence, Advocates Say” by Abraham Gutman

Margot Sanger-Katz: The New York Times’ “Despite Their Influence and Extensive Access to Information, Members of Congress Can Buy and Sell Stocks With Few Restrictions” and “These 97 Members of Congress Reported Trades in Companies Influenced by Their Committees” by Kate Kelly, Adam Playford, and Alicia Parlapiano

Also discussed on this week’s podcast:

Politico and Welt’s “How Bill Gates and Partners Used Their Clout to Control the Global Covid Response — With Little Oversight” by Erin Banco, Ashleigh Furlong, and Lennart Pfahler

The Census Bureau’s “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2021“

To hear all our podcasts, click here.

And subscribe to KHN’s What the Health? on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

August 4, 2022

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Kansas Makes a Statement

Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on Acast. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Voters in Kansas told the rest of the country this week that they don’t want their state to ban abortion. In a nearly 60%-40% split, voters turned back an effort by anti-abortion activists to amend the state constitution to remove its right to abortion, which would have allowed the legislature to ban the procedure.

Meanwhile, in Washington, Congress is in its pre-recess push to pass legislation. A bill to provide health benefits to veterans injured by breathing in toxic substances from military burn pits finally made it to President Joe Biden’s desk. But talks continue on the Democrats’ health care-climate-tax bill that would, among other things, allow Medicare to negotiate some prescription drug prices and extend expanded subsidies for insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Tami Luhby of CNN, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

At least four other states — California, Kentucky, Montana, and Vermont — will have abortion questions on their ballots in November. Michigan is likely to have one, too, but the petitions required are still being certified.
The Department of Justice has sued Idaho, arguing that its nearly-total abortion ban — set to take effect later in August — conflicts with federal law guaranteeing patients access to emergency medical care. If the case were to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, it could endanger the emergency care law, which has not faced that sort of legal challenge before.
Biden signed an executive order this week that among other things could allow Medicaid to cover the travel expenses of women seeking out-of-state abortion care if their state restricts it. But the White House did not provide many details about how such a program would work or be paid for. The so-called Hyde Amendment, named for abortion opponent Rep. Henry Hyde, who died in 2007, forbids federal funding of most abortions. Supporters of the president’s move suggested that restriction applies only to medical care and not transportation, but any effort by Medicaid to set up such a transportation program would likely be litigated.
New data released this week by the Department of Health and Human Services finds that the number of uninsured Americans has fallen to an all-time low of 8%. That estimate comes as the Senate is considering funding to continue enhanced premium subsidies for people who buy insurance on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces. If that legislation falters, the number of people without insurance is expected to rise sharply, as premiums will become unaffordable for many.
Biden’s rebound of covid-19 symptoms reminds the country that the standards on when a patient has recovered are not firm and raises questions about how patients should handle reentry after battling the disease.

Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Bram Sable-Smith, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment about a single-car accident that resulted in three wildly different ambulance bills. If you have an enormous or outrageous medical bill you’d like to send us, you can do that here.

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: KHN’s “They Lost Medicaid When Paperwork Was Sent to an Empty Field, Signaling the Mess to Come,” by Brett Kelman

Rachel Cohrs: The Washington Post’s “Thousands of Lives Depend on a Transplant Network in Need of ‘Vast Restructuring,’” by Joseph Menn and Lenny Bernstein

Tami Luhby: KHN’s “Hospices Have Become Big Business for Private Equity Firms, Raising Concerns About End-of-Life Care,” by Markian Hawryluk

Sandhya Raman: KHN’s “Nursing Homes Are Suing the Friends and Family of Residents to Collect Debts,” by Noam N. Levey

To hear all our podcasts, click here.

And subscribe to KHN’s What the Health? on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The Host

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