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KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Oh, Oh, Omicron


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Click here for a transcript of the episode.


This week, the U.S. passed the milestone of 800,000 dead from covid-19, as hospitals are starting to fill following the Thanksgiving holiday and the ominous omicron variant starts to spread rapidly.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court signals it’s likely to roll back abortion rights in the next year, and Congress runs out of time to pass President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill in 2021.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

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

Julie Rovner: KHN’s “West Virginia Sen. Manchin Takes the Teeth Out of Democrats’ Plan for Seniors’ Dental Care,” by Phil Galewitz

Margot Sanger-Katz: HuffPost’s “Insulin Prices Could Be in for a Pretty Big Change if Democrats Get Their Way,” by Jonathan Cohn

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The AP’s “How a Kennedy Built an Anti-Vaccine Juggernaut Amid COVID-19,” by Michelle R. Smith

Mary Ellen McIntire: CQ Roll Call’s “Burnout Among Pharmacists Slows COVID-19 Booster Shots,” by Emily Kopp and Ariel Cohen


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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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