KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: As Cases Spike, White House Declares Pandemic Over


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White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said this week that “we’re not going to control the pandemic,” effectively conceding that the administration has pivoted from prevention to treatment. But COVID-19 cases are rising rapidly in most of the nation, and the issue is playing large in the presidential campaign. President Donald Trump is complaining about the constant news reports about the virus, prompting former President Barack Obama to say Trump is “jealous of COVID’s media coverage.”

Meanwhile, as the case challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act heads to the Supreme Court on Nov. 10, open enrollment for individual health insurance under the law begins Sunday.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Tami Luhby of CNN and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Anna Almendrala, who reported the latest NPR-KHN “Bill of the Month” installment, about a patient who did everything right and got a big bill anyway. If you have an outrageous medical bill you would like 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: The New York Times’ “A Chance to Expand Medicaid Rallies Democrats in Crucial North Carolina,” by Abby Goodnough

Joanne Kenen: The New Yorker’s “A President Looks Back on His Toughest Fight,” by Barack Obama

Tami Luhby: KHN’s “Florida Fails to Attract Bidders for Canada Drug Importation Program,” by Phil Galewitz

Anna Edney: The Wall Street Journal’s “Health Agency Halts Coronavirus Ad Campaign, Leaving Santa Claus in the Cold,” by Julie Wernau, James V. Grimaldi and Stephanie Armour


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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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