{"id":3072,"date":"2024-07-18T20:24:18","date_gmt":"2024-07-18T20:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=3072"},"modified":"2024-07-18T20:24:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T20:24:18","slug":"at-gop-convention-health-policy-is-mostly-mia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=3072","title":{"rendered":"At GOP Convention, Health Policy Is Mostly MIA"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"republish-content\">\n<h3>\n\t\tThe Host\t<\/h3>\n<p>\tJulie Rovner<br \/>\n\tKFF Health News<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jrovner\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t@jrovner\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/author\/julie-rovner\/\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tRead Julie&#8217;s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tJulie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News\u2019 weekly health policy news podcast, \u201cWhat the Health?\u201d A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book \u201cHealth Care Politics and Policy A to Z,\u201d now in its third edition.\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The Republican National Convention highlighted a number of policy issues this week, but health care was not among them. That was not much of a surprise, as it is not a top priority for former President Donald Trump or most GOP voters. The nomination of Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio adds an outspoken abortion opponent to the Republican ticket, though he brings no particular background or expertise in health care.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, abortion opponents are busy trying to block state ballot questions from reaching voters in November. Legal battles over potential proposals continue in several states, including Florida, Arkansas, and Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>This week\u2019s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins schools of public health and nursing and Politico Magazine.<\/p>\n<h3>\n\t\tPanelists\t<\/h3>\n<p>\tAlice Miranda Ollstein<br \/>\n\tPolitico<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AliceOllstein\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t@AliceOllstein\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/staff\/alice-miranda-ollstein\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tRead Alice&#8217;s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\tJoanne Kenen<br \/>\n\tJohns Hopkins University and Politico<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoanneKenen\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t@JoanneKenen\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.jhu.edu\/faculty\/4294\/joanne-l-kenen\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tRead Joanne&#8217;s articles.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\tSarah Karlin-Smith<br \/>\n\tPink Sheet<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SarahKarlin\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t@SarahKarlin\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/pink.pharmaintelligence.informa.com\/authors\/sarah-karlin\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tRead Sarah&#8217;s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Among the takeaways from this week\u2019s episode:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio has cast few votes on health policy since joining Congress last year. He has taken a doctrinaire approach to abortion restrictions, though, including expressing support for prohibiting abortion-related interstate travel and invoking the Comstock Act to block use of the mail for abortion medications. He also speaks openly about his mother\u2019s struggles with addiction, framing it as a health rather than criminal issue in a way that resonates with many Americans.<\/li>\n<li>Although Republicans have largely abandoned calls to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, it would be easy for former President Donald Trump to undermine the program in a second term; expanded subsidies for coverage are due to expire next year, and there\u2019s always the option to cut spending on marketing the program, as Trump did during his first term.<\/li>\n<li>Trump\u2019s recent comments to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about childhood vaccinations echoed tropes linked to the anti-vaccination movement \u2014 particularly the false claim that while one vaccine may be safe, it is perhaps dangerous to receive several at once. The federal vaccination schedule has been rigorously evaluated and found to be safe and effective.<\/li>\n<li>Covid is surging once again, with President Joe Biden among those testing positive this week. The virus is proving a year-round concern and has peaked regularly in summertime; covid spreads best indoors, and lately millions of Americans have taken refuge inside from extremely high temperatures. Meanwhile, the virology community is concerned that the nation isn\u2019t testing enough animals or humans to understand the risk posed by bird flu.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News\u2019 Renuka Rayasam, who wrote the June installment of KFF Health News-NPR\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/article\/urgent-care-vs-emergency-room-confusion-bill-of-the-month\/\">Bill of the Month<\/a>,\u201d about a patient who walked into what he thought was an urgent care center and walked out with an emergency room bill. If you have an exorbitant or baffling medical bill, <a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/send-us-your-medical-bills\/\">you can send it to us here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, for \u201cextra credit,\u201d the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Julie Rovner:<\/strong> Time magazine\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/6982015\/bitcoin-mining-texas-health\/\">\u2018We\u2019re Living in a Nightmare:\u2019 Inside the Health Crisis of a Texas Bitcoin Town,<\/a>\u201d by Andrew R Chow.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Joanne Kenen:<\/strong> The Washington Post\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/2024\/07\/12\/federal-funding-children-food-program-rejected\/\">A Mom Struggles To Feed Her Kids After GOP States Reject Federal Funds<\/a>,\u201d by Annie Gowen.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alice Miranda Ollstein:<\/strong> ProPublica\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/texas-funding-anti-abortion-crisis-pregnancy-centers\">Texas Sends Millions to Crisis Pregnancy Centers. It\u2019s Meant To Help Needy Families, but No One Knows if It Works<\/a>,\u201d by Cassandra Jaramillo, Jeremy Kohler, and Sophie Chou, ProPublica, and Jessica Kegu, CBS News.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sarah Karlin-Smith:<\/strong> The New York Times\u2019 \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/15\/health\/cord-blood-storage-contamination.html\">Promised Cures, Tainted Cells: How Cord Blood Banks Mislead Patients<\/a>,\u201d by Sarah Kliff and Azeen Ghorayshi.<\/p>\n<p>Also mentioned on this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n<p>The Wall Street Journal\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/health\/pharma\/higher-drug-costs-mail-order-prescription-bf37886f\">Mail-Order Drugs Were Supposed To Keep Costs Down. It\u2019s Doing the Opposite<\/a>,\u201d by Jared S. Hopkins.<\/p>\n<h3>\n\t\tCredits\t<\/h3>\n<p>\tFrancis Ying<br \/>\n\tAudio producer<\/p>\n<p>\tEmmarie Huetteman<br \/>\n\tEditor <\/p>\n<p><em>To hear all our podcasts,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/tag\/podcast\/\">click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>And subscribe to KFF Health News\u2019 \u201cWhat the Health?\u201d on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/32EdsB662C3oyIrqLMmBXI?si=TQhRjzzLTgWtK3crfbOFtA\">Spotify<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/what-the-health\/id1253607372?mt=2\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.pocketcasts.com\/web\/podcasts\/a379e280-3f57-0135-9028-63f4b61a9224\">Pocket Casts<\/a>, or wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>We encourage organizations to republish our content, free of charge. Here\u2019s what we ask:<\/p>\n<p>You must credit us as the original publisher, with a hyperlink to our kffhealthnews.org site. If possible, please include the original author(s) and KFF Health News\u201d in the byline. Please preserve the hyperlinks in the story.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to note, not everything on kffhealthnews.org is available for republishing. If a story is labeled \u201cAll Rights Reserved,\u201d we cannot grant permission to republish that item.<\/p>\n<p>Have questions? Let us know at <a href=\"mailto:KHNHelp@kff.org\">KHNHelp@kff.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie&#8217;s stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News\u2019 weekly health policy news podcast, \u201cWhat the Health?\u201d A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book \u201cHealth Care Politics and Policy A to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3072"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3073,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3072\/revisions\/3073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}