{"id":710,"date":"2023-02-09T19:54:38","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T19:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=710"},"modified":"2023-02-09T19:54:40","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T19:54:40","slug":"a-health-heavy-state-of-the-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=710","title":{"rendered":"A Health-Heavy State of the Union"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\tThe Host\t<\/h3>\n
\tJulie Rovner
\n\tKHN<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t@jrovner\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tRead Julie’s stories.\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\t\t\tJulie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KHN\u2019s 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
Health care was a recurring theme throughout President Joe Biden\u2019s 2023 State of the Union address on Capitol Hill this week. He took a victory lap on recent accomplishments like capping prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare. He urged Congress to do more, including making permanent the boosted insurance premium subsidies added to the Affordable Care Act during the pandemic. And he sparred with Republicans in the audience \u2014 who jeered and called him a liar \u2014 over GOP proposals that would cut Medicare and Social Security.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, abortion rights advocates and opponents are anxiously awaiting a federal court decision out of Texas that could result in a nationwide ban on mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortion.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tPanelists\t<\/h3>\n
\tRachel Cohrs
\n\tStat News<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t@rachelcohrs\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tRead Rachel’s stories\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\tSarah Karlin-Smith
\n\tPink Sheet<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t@SarahKarlin\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tRead Sarah’s stories\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\tAlice Miranda Ollstein
\n\tPolitico<\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t@AliceOllstein\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tRead Alice’s stories\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
Among the takeaways from this week\u2019s episode:<\/p>\n
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President Joe Biden\u2019s State of the Union address emphasized recent victories against high health care costs, like Medicare coverage caps on insulin and out-of-pocket caps on prescription drug spending. Biden\u2019s lively, informal exchange with lawmakers over potential cuts to Medicare and Social Security seemed to steal the show, though the political fight over cutting costs in those entitlement programs is rooted in a key question: What constitutes a \u201ccut\u201d?<\/li>\n
Biden\u2019s calls for bipartisanship to extend health programs like pandemic-era subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans are expected to clash with conservative demands to slash federal government spending. And last year\u2019s Senate fights demonstrate that sometimes the opposition comes from within the Democratic Party.<\/li>\n
While some abortion advocates praised Biden for vowing to veto a federal abortion ban, others felt he did not talk enough about the looming challenges to abortion access in the courts. A decision is expected soon in a Texas court case challenging the future use of mifepristone. The Trump-appointed judge\u2019s decision could ban the drug nationwide, meaning it would be barred even in states where abortion continues to be legal.<\/li>\n
The FDA is at the center of the abortion pill case, which challenges its approval of the drug decades ago and could set a precedent for legal challenges to the approval of other drugs. In other FDA news, the agency recently changed policy to allow gay men to donate blood; announced new food safety leadership in response to the baby formula crisis; and kicked back to Congress a question of how to regulate CBD, or cannabidiol, products.<\/li>\n
In drug pricing, the top-selling pharmaceutical, Humira, will soon reach the end of its patent, which will offer a telling look at how competition influences the price of biosimilars \u2014 and the problems that remain for lawmakers to resolve.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Also this week, Rovner interviews Kate Baicker of the University of Chicago about a new paper providing a possible middle ground in the effort to establish universal health insurance coverage in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Plus, for \u201cextra credit,\u201d the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too:<\/p>\n
Julie Rovner:<\/strong> The New York Times\u2019 \u201cDon\u2019t Let Republican \u2018Judge Shoppers\u2019 Thwart the Will of Voters<\/a>,\u201d by Stephen I. Vladeck<\/p>\n
Alice Miranda Ollstein:<\/strong> Politico\u2019s \u201cMpox Is Simmering South of the Border, Threatening a Resurgence<\/a>,\u201d by Carmen Paun<\/p>\n
Sarah Karlin-Smith:<\/strong> KHN\u2019s \u201cDecisions by CVS and Optum Panicked Thousands of Their Sickest Patients<\/a>,\u201d by Arthur Allen<\/p>\n
Rachel Cohrs:<\/strong> ProPublica\u2019s \u201cUnitedHealthcare Tried to Deny Coverage to a Chronically Ill Patient. He Fought Back, Exposing the Insurer\u2019s Inner Workings<\/a>,\u201d by David Armstrong, Patrick Rucker, and Maya Miller<\/p>\n
Also mentioned in this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n
\n\t\tCredits\t<\/h3>\n
\tFrancis Ying
\n\tAudio producer<\/p>\n
\tEmmarie Huetteman
\n\tEditor <\/p>\n
To hear all our podcasts,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n
And subscribe to KHN\u2019s What the Health? on\u00a0Spotify<\/a>,\u00a0 Apple Podcasts<\/a>,\u00a0 Stitcher<\/a>,\u00a0 Pocket Casts<\/a>, or wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/em><\/p>\n
KHN<\/a> (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF<\/a> (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.<\/p>\n
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