Guest
Julie Rovner KFF Health News
@julirovner.bsky.social
Read Julia's stories.
Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News' weekly health policy podcast, “What the Health?” A renowned health policy expert, Julie is the author of the critically acclaimed reference book Health Policy and Politics A to Z, now in its third edition.
Congress returned after the holiday recess to the same question it faced in December: whether to extend Covid-era premium subsidies for health plans sold under the Affordable Care Act. The expanded subsidies expired at the end of 2025, leaving more than 20 million Americans facing sharply higher out-of-pocket insurance costs.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced an overhaul of the federal childhood immunization schedule, reducing the number of diseases for which vaccines are recommended from 17 to 11.
This week's panelists include KFF Health News' Julie Rovner, Pink Sheet's Sarah Carlin-Smith, Politico's Alice Miranda Allstein and the Washington Post's Lauren Weber.
Panelists
Pink Leaf by Sarah Carlin-Smith
@sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social
Read Sarah's stories.
Alice Miranda Olstein Politico
@alicemiranda.bsky.social
Read Alice's stories.
Lauren Weber The Washington Post
Read Lauren's stories.
Among the takeaways from this week's episode:
- A conservative movement to end abortion access across the country has ensnared Congress' latest attempt to help millions of people afford health insurance. As lawmakers consider a compromise to restore expanded federal tax breaks for ACA plans, some Republicans argue that tax breaks should be prohibited from subsidizing any plan that covers abortion care — even though federal dollars wouldn't be used to pay for abortions anyway. The change will force some states to choose between eliminating abortion coverage requirements or refusing federal assistance.
- President Donald Trump this week urged congressional Republicans to be “flexible” on abortion restrictions. Meanwhile, his health care policies have so far failed to deliver significant benefits to Americans, with most of the savings from his high-profile pharmaceutical deals going to federal and state Medicaid programs. And a $50 billion increase in federal funding for rural health care, meant to offset nearly $1 trillion in expected Medicaid cuts, is unlikely to have much of an impact, in no small part because rural agencies are prohibited from using the money for general spending.
- Although Kennedy announced a revision of federal childhood vaccine guidelines, the measure's impact on vaccination rates and insurance coverage will largely depend on how different states respond, since states impose mandates (such as school enrollment) and regulate some insurers. However, this will likely lead to fragmented government policies, which poses challenges to public health efforts.
- Federal health officials also unveiled new dietary guidelines, turning the decades-old food pyramid on its head. Some recommendations are based on scientific discoveries, such as eliminating sugar from your diet. Others are more controversial, especially the suggestion that Americans should eat more red meat and the relaxation of saturated fat recommendations.
Also, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest stories about health care policy that they read (or wrote) this week that they think you should read, too:
Julie Rovner: KFF health news”Ads promising patients the “dream body” with minimal risk attract little attention“, Fred Schulte.
Alice Miranda Olstein: SFGate”California teen trusts ChatGPT for drug counseling. He died of an overdose» Lester Black and Stephen Council.
Sarah Carlin-Smith: ProPublica”End of aid: Trump destroyed USAID. What's happening now?» by Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy.
Lauren Weber: Washington Post newspaperHow RFK Jr. revolutionized the healthcare systemRachel Rubein, Lena H. Sun, and Lauren Weber.
Also mentioned in this week's podcast:
Loans
Zach Dyer Audio Producer Emmarie Huettman Editor
Click here to find all of our podcasts.
And subscribe to “What the Health? From KFF Health News” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR app, YouTube, Pocket castsor wherever you listen to podcasts.
KFF health news is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is one of the core operating programs of KFF, an independent source of health policy research, polling and journalism. Find out more about KFF.
USE OUR CONTENT
This story may be republished free of charge (details).
We encourage organizations to republish our content free of charge. Here's what we ask:
You must credit us as the original publisher and provide a hyperlink to our website, kffhealthnews.org. If possible, please credit the original author(s) and “KFF Health News” in the byline. Please save the hyperlinks in the article.
It is important to note that not all content on kffhealthnews.org is available for republishing. If a story is marked “All Rights Reserved”, we cannot give permission to republish it.
Any questions? Let us know at [email protected]
