Podcast

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Return of the Public Option


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The “public option” is back — both in Washington, D.C., and the states. President Joe Biden as a candidate supported the idea of a government-run or heavily regulated insurance plan that would compete with private insurance. But until now it has been more of a concept than a plan. Two top health leaders in Congress say they will try to put a plan together, while public options in various forms work their way through legislatures in Colorado and Nevada.

Meanwhile, bioethicists are debating whether the U.S. should be vaccinating low-risk adolescents against covid-19 while high-risk adults in other countries remain vulnerable.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Rachana Pradhan of KHN.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

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

Julie Rovner: The New York Times’ “Covid Killed His Father. Then Came $1 Million in Medical Bills,” by Sarah Kliff

Alice Miranda Ollstein: HuffPost’s “Can America Close the COVID Vaccine Race Gap?” by Jonathan Cohn

Margot Sanger-Katz: KHN’s “Corporations Encourage Employee Vaccination but Stop Short of Mandates,” by Anna Almendrala

Rachana Pradhan: The Wall Street Journal’s “Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate on Covid-19 Origin,” by Michael R. Gordon, Warren P. Strobel and Drew Hinshaw


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This story was produced by KHN (Kaiser Health News), 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 (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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