KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: The Pandemic Shifts; The Politics, Not So Much


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President Donald Trump caused a stir when he said at his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last weekend that he wanted less testing for COVID-19. While aides denied that, it didn’t help when on Wednesday the administration announced it would cut off federal funding for a number of state testing sites, including several in Texas, which is in the midst of a large spike in cases.

Meanwhile, in non-coronavirus news, the Trump administration won a round in its effort to require hospitals to make the prices they charge public, although that case is far from over. And as the administration submits its brief for the Supreme Court case that could invalidate the Affordable Care Act, Democrats on Capitol Hill unveil their bill to shore up the health law.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

Also this week, Rovner interviews Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel of the University of Pennsylvania. He’s a former Obama administration health policy adviser with a new book out: “Which Country Has the World’s Best Health Care?”

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

Julie Rovner: KHN and USA Today’s “Fractured Skulls, Lost Eyes: Police Often Break Own Rules Using ‘Rubber Bullets,’” by Liz Szabo and Jay Hancock of KHN, and Kevin McCoy, Donovan Slack and Dennis Wagner of USA Today

Margot Sanger-Katz: ProPublica’s “The Trump Administration Paid Millions for Test Tubes — and Got Unusable Mini Soda Bottles,” by J. David McSwane and Ryan Gabrielson. And ProPublica’s “He Removed Labels That Said ‘Medical Use Prohibited,’ Then Tried to Sell Thousands of Masks to Officials Who Distribute to Hospitals,” By J. David McSwane

Kimberly Leonard: Business Insider’s “We Combed Through the Political Donations of 75 Top Healthcare Companies. They Reveal Execs Are Making a Surprising Choice in How They Give Their Cash,” by Kimberly Leonard

Paige Winfield Cunningham: The New York Times’ “’They Just Dumped Him Like Trash.’ Nursing Homes Evict Vulnerable Residents,” by Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Amy Julia Harris


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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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