KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: SCOTUS Decides An ACA Case. No, Not THAT Case.


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The Supreme Court this week rejected the efforts of a Republican-controlled Congress in 2014 to cut off funding to insurance companies under a provision of the Affordable Care Act. In an 8-1 decision, the high court ruled that insurers must be paid the roughly $12 billion they are owed under the law’s “risk corridor” program.

Meanwhile, the efforts to address the COVID-19 health and economic impact are becoming more partisan, with Democrats pushing to provide more funding to states and localities and Republicans urging liability waivers for employers whose workers get sick after being summoned back to the workplace.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Caitlin Owens of Axios and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Carmen Heredia Rodriguez, who reported the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” installment about a patient who got what should have been a free COVID-19 test and ended up with a hefty bill. If you have an outrageous medical bill to share with us, you can do that here.

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

Julie Rovner: NPR’s “What Would It Take to Bring More Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Back to the U.S.?” by Sydney Lupkin

Caitlin Owens: Axios’ “Why the Coronavirus Feels So Risky,” by Bryan Walsh

Mary Ellen McIntire: CQ Roll Call’s “Amazon Workers Tally Virus Cases, Voice Alarm About Risks,” by Emily Kopp


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This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

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