What the Health? From KFF Health News

Health care got barely a mention in President Donald Trump’s record-long State of the Union address this week. Ahead of the midterms, the Trump administration has presented few concrete plans to address what Americans say is the biggest problem with health care: its skyrocketing costs. Meanwhile, Trump’s pick to become U.S. surgeon general, Casey Means, got her long-delayed nomination hearing in the Senate, where she faced some skeptical questions from Democrats and Republicans alike. Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Heal...

The twists and turns continue at the nation’s health agency, where this week’s announcements included notice that the Food and Drug Administration will review Moderna’s new flu vaccine after all and that a handful of top agency officials are getting new jobs.

Those developments and others can be traced to a White House looking to shake things up before the midterms — and win over voters on health care. Tami Luhby of CNN, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these stories an...

It’s been a busy week at the Food and Drug Administration, with a political appointee overruling agency scientists to reject an application for a new flu vaccine, a decision that’s reverberating through the drug industry. 

Meanwhile, anti-abortion Republicans on Capitol Hill complain the agency is dragging its feet on reviewing the abortion pill mifepristone. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Jackie Fortiér of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner. 

Visit our website for a transcript of the episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists sug...

Congress has passed — and President Donald Trump has signed — the annual spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services. But it’s unclear whether the administration will spend the money as Congress directed.

In 2025, billions of dollars were stalled, disrupting patient care and scientific research, until federal judges ordered funding resumed. 

Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.

Also this week, Rov...

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is not just roiling politics but also directly affecting the provision of health care, medical groups say. Meanwhile, in Washington, federal spending bills on their way to passage have been stalled by the fight over immigration enforcement funding after the shooting death of a second person in Minneapolis this month. 

Maya Goldman of Axios, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. 

Visit our website to read a transcript of this episode.

Plus...

Lawmakers appear on the brink of passing a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services and a bipartisan health policy bill delayed for over a year. But the outlook is considerably bleaker for the health care outline released by President Donald Trump last week. 

Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews oncologist and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel to discuss his new book, “Eat Your...

With lawmakers still mired over renewing enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans, much of Washington has turned its attention to culture war issues, including abortion and gender-affirming care. 

Meanwhile, “confusion” remains the watchword at the Department of Health and Human Services as personnel and funding decisions continue to be made and unmade with little notice. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. 

Also th...

Congress returned from its holiday break facing a familiar question: whether to extend the expanded subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans that expired at the end of 2025.  

Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. broke a promise to Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the chairman of Senate health committee, by overhauling the federal government’s childhood vaccine schedule to reduce the number of diseases for which vaccines will be recommended.  

Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to dis...

This past year marked the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, the twin government programs that have shaped the health care system into what it is today. In this special episode, re-aired for the holidays, KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner interviews two experts on the history, significance, and future of these perennially popular programs. First up, Medicare historian and University of North Carolina health policy professor Jonathan Oberlander talks about Medicare. He’s followed by Sara Rosenbaum of the George Washington University, who has not only studied Medicaid since nearly its beginning but has helped shape Medicaid policy over the...

A last-minute push from Democrats and four moderate Republicans will force a House vote on renewing enhanced premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans, but not until January. That means millions will have to choose between paying dramatically more or dropping coverage next year. 

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially drops the federal recommendation for newborns to receive a hepatitis B shot. 

Tami Luhby of CNN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Lizzy Lawrence of Stat join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. 

Also this...

December 15 is the deadline to sign up for Affordable Care Act plans that begin January 1. Congress remains at odds over letting expanded tax credits for the plans’ premiums expire, dramatically increasing the cost of insurance for millions of Americans. 

Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to remake vaccine policy to reflect ideology rather than science. 

Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Maya Goldman of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. 

Also this week, Rovner...

Senate Democrats were promised a vote by mid-December on extending the enhanced subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, but Republicans still can’t decide whether they want to put forward their own alternative or what that might include. 

Meanwhile, both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration are roiled by debates over vaccines. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those storie...

Just weeks before some tax credits for Affordable Care Act premiums expire, the Trump administration floated a plan to extend the enhanced aid — but it was met with immediate GOP pushback. Meanwhile, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to revise its website to suggest childhood vaccines might be linked to autism. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. 

Also this week, Rovner interv...

Led by President Donald Trump, Republicans in Congress are solidifying their opposition to extending pandemic-era subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans and seem to be coalescing around giving money directly to consumers to spend on health care. 

Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to leave his mark on the agency, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention altering its website to suggest childhood vaccines could play a role in causing autism. 

Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health an...

The record-long federal shutdown is over after a small group of Democrats agreed to a deal with most Republicans that funds the government through January — but, notably, does not extend more generous Affordable Care Act tax credits. 

Plus, new details are emerging about how the Trump administration is using the Medicaid program to advance its policy goals. 

Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these stories and more. 

Also this week, KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner in...

November 1 marked the start of open enrollment for 2026 health plans bought from Affordable Care Act marketplaces in most states. But this sign-up season is like no other in the health law’s 15-year history. It remains unclear, even at this late date, whether expanded tax credits launched during the pandemic in 2021 will be continued or allowed to expire, exposing millions of Americans to much higher out-of-pocket costs. 

In this special episode of “What the Health?” from KFF Health News and WAMU, host Julie Rovner interviews KFF vice president Cynthia Cox about the past, present, and possible future of the...

A standoff in Congress is keeping much of the federal government shut down as open enrollment begins in most states for Affordable Care Act plans. Democrats have refused to vote on spending until Republicans agree to extend more generous ACA premium tax credits, but so far there has been little negotiating — even as customers are learning what they’ll pay for coverage next year. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is telling states they can’t pass their own laws to keep medical debt off consumers’ credit reports, after killing a Biden-era effort to end the practice nationwide. 

Paige Winfield...

Two major nutrition programs — supporting low-income families, as well as young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women — are likely to exhaust their funding in November, and the furloughs and firings at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have left the agency unable to perform some of its major functions.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s new policy on in vitro fertilization is being met with dissatisfaction from both sides of the controversial issue.

Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner t...

Two major nutrition programs — supporting low-income families, as well as young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women — are likely to exhaust their funding in November, and the furloughs and firings at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have left the agency unable to perform some of its major functions.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s new policy on in vitro fertilization is being met with dissatisfaction from both sides of the controversial issue.

Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to disc...

Democrats and Republicans remain stalled over funding the federal government as Republicans launch a new attack on the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is taking advantage of the shutdown to lay off workers from programs supported mostly by Democrats. 

Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. 

Also this week, Rovner interviews health insurance analyst Louise Norris about Medicare open enrollment, which began Oct...

Democrats and Republicans remain stalled over funding the federal government as Republicans launch a new attack on the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is taking advantage of the shutdown to lay off workers from programs supported mostly by Democrats.

Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.

Also this week, Rovner interviews health insurance analyst Louise Norris about Medicare open enrollment, wh...

The government shutdown continues with no obvious end in sight, and while it theoretically should not affect entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, the lapse of some related authorizations — like for Medicare telehealth programs — is leaving some doctors and patients high and dry. Meanwhile, the FDA quietly approved a new generic abortion pill, prompting a not-so-quiet reaction from anti-abortion groups. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Sarah Grusin of the...

As long predicted, much of the federal government shut down Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass required spending bills, with Democrats demanding Republicans renew the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies in exchange for votes. While a shutdown does not affect Medicare and Medicaid, it could eventually hinder activities from every corner of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Meanwhile, as Democrats and Republicans point fingers, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pursues policies and personnel undermining vaccines.

Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Rachel Cohrs Zhang...

In a rambling news conference that shocked public health experts, President Donald Trump this week — without scientific evidence — blamed the over-the-counter drug acetaminophen, and too many childhood vaccines, for the increase in autism diagnoses in the U.S. That came days after a key immunization advisory committee, newly reconstituted with vaccine doubters, changed several long-standing recommendations.

Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official Demetre Daskalakis joins KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories. Meanwhile, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join Rovner with the rest of the news...

The recently fired head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told senators that health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered her to fire top officials and agree to approve changes to national vaccine recommendations — before the recommendations were made and regardless of what the science says. Meanwhile, Congress heads toward a government shutdown, with expanded subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans in the balance.

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health Ne...

With less than three weeks to go before the deadline to pass legislation to keep the federal government running, lawmakers are still far apart on a strategy. Democrats hope Republicans agree to extend expanded tax credits for the Affordable Care Act as part of a compromise, but so far Republicans are not negotiating. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released his long-awaited “Make America Healthy Again” report, with few specific action items.

Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News join KFF Heal...

A combative Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the U.S. secretary of health and human services, appeared before a Senate committee Thursday, defending his firing of the newly confirmed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as other changes that could limit the availability of vaccines. Meanwhile, Congress has only a few weeks to complete work on annual spending bills to avoid a possible government shutdown and to ward off potentially large increases in premiums for Affordable Care Act health plans. 

Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet, an...

This summer marks the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, the twin government programs that have shaped the health care system into what it is today. In this special episode, KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner interviews two experts on the history, significance, and future of these perennially popular programs. First up, Medicare historian and University of North Carolina professor Jonathan Oberlander. He’s followed by George Washington University professor Sara Rosenbaum, who not only has studied Medicaid since nearly its beginning but also has helped shape Medicaid policy over the past four decades.

President Donald Trump’s latest executive order about science and medicine seeks to take funding decisions out of the hands of career scientists and give them to political appointees instead. And a gunman, reportedly disgruntled over covid vaccines, shoots at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, killing a law enforcement officer.

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

Also this week, Rovner interviews Aaron Carroll, president and CEO...

The Health and Human Services secretary is winding down nearly $500 million in mRNA research funding, citing false claims that the technology is ineffective against respiratory illnesses — and notching a victory for critics of the covid vaccines. And President Donald Trump is demanding drugmakers drop their prices, quickly, but it’s unclear how he could make them comply. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these stories and more. 

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, is eyeing an overhaul of two more key entities as part of his ongoing effort to reshape health policy. And President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week that would enable localities to force some homeless people into residential treatment.

Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Sara Rosenbaum, on...

Medicaid may have monopolized Washington’s attention lately, but big changes are coming to the Affordable Care Act as well.

Meanwhile, Americans are learning more about what’s in the big budget bill President Donald Trump signed into law this month, and polls suggest many of them don’t like what they see.

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Julie Appleby of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

Also this week, Rovner interviews historian and Universi...

The Senate narrowly approved the Trump administration’s request to claw back about $9 billion for humanitarian foreign aid projects and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — but refused to cut funding for the international AIDS/HIV program PEPFAR. The House has a Friday deadline to approve the rescissions bill, or the funding remains in place.

Meanwhile, a federal appeals court ruled that West Virginia can ban the abortion pill mifepristone, which could allow states to block other drugs approved by the FDA.

Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Joan...

President Donald Trump’s big budget bill became his big budget law on July 4, codifying about $1 trillion in cuts to the Medicaid program. But the law includes many less-publicized provisions that could reshape the way the nation pays for and receives health care. Meanwhile, at the Department of Health and Human Services, uncertainty reigns as both staff and outside recipients of federal funds face cuts.

Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Tami Luhby of CNN, and Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week...

The House on Thursday moved to approve the largest-ever cuts to federal safety net programs, the last step before the measure goes to President Donald Trump’s desk. After the Senate very narrowly passed the bill, House GOP leaders ushered it past resistance from conservatives wary of adding trillions to the federal debt and moderates concerned about its cuts to Medicaid. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has continued to pursue his anti-vaccine agenda, despite promises that he would not.

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of...

In this special episode taped before a live audience at Aspen Ideas: Health, three former governors — one of whom also served as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services — have a wide-ranging discussion about how state and federal officials can more effectively work together to improve Americans’ health. Democrat Kathleen Sebelius, a former governor of Kansas and HHS secretary under President Barack Obama; Republican Chris Sununu, former governor of New Hampshire; and Democrat Roy Cooper, former governor of North Carolina, join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner for this discussion.  

Visit our website to read a transcri...

The Supreme Court this week said Tennessee may continue to enforce its law banning most types of gender-affirming care for minors. The ruling is likely to greenlight similar laws in two dozen states.

Meanwhile, the Senate is preparing to vote on a budget reconciliation bill that includes even deeper Medicaid cuts than the bill that barely passed the House in May.

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 

Visit our...

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week did something he had promised not to do: He fired every member of the scientific advisory committee that recommends which vaccines should be given to whom. And he replaced them, in some cases, with vaccine skeptics. Meanwhile, hundreds of employees of the National Institutes of Health sent an open letter of dissent to the agency’s director, Jay Bhattacharya, accusing the Trump administration of policies that “undermine the NIH mission, waste our public resources, and harm the health of Americans and people across the globe.” 

Anna E...

The House’s gigantic tax-and-spending budget reconciliation bill has landed with a thud in the Senate, where lawmakers are divided in their criticism over whether it increases the deficit too much or cuts Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act too deeply. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that the bill, if enacted, could increase the ranks of the uninsured by nearly 11 million people over a decade won’t make it an easy sell.

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Ro...

This episode was taped live on Friday, May 30, at the annual conference of the Association of Health Care Journalists in Los Angeles. Host Julie Rovner moderated a panel featuring Rachel Nuzum, senior vice president for policy at The Commonwealth Fund; Berenice Núñez Constant, senior vice president of government relations and civic engagement at AltaMed Health Services; and Anish Mahajan, chief deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The panelists discussed the national, state, and local implications of funding cuts made over the first 100 days of the second Trump administration and the potential fallout of re...