Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Falling Premiums And Rising Political Tensions

The Trump administration announced that, for the first time, the average premium for a key plan sold on the federal health law’s insurance marketplaces will fall slightly next year. Federal officials said that changes they have made helped facilitate the reduction, but others argue that it was because more plans are moving back into those federal exchanges and making money.

The news is likely to further inflame the political debate on health care in the run-up to the midterm elections. Democrats and Republicans are battling over which party is more attuned to consumers’ needs on protections for people with preexisting conditions and affordable health care.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump signed two bills this week that would ban efforts to keep pharmacists from telling customers that their prescriptions would be cheaper if they paid in cash, rather than using their insurance. And the Food and Drug Administration this week announced it will ease the process for drugmakers to bring some products to market.

This week’s panelists for KHN’s “What the Health?” are Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

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

Mary Agnes Carey: The Washington Post’s “Patrick Kennedy Shepherded a Major Mental-Health Bill Into Law. Ten Years Later, Big Barriers Remain,” by Colby Itkowitz

Rebecca Adams:  The New York Times’ “Migrant Children in Search of Justice: A 2-Year-Old’s Day in Immigration Court,” by Vivian Yee and Miriam Jordan

Julie Appleby: Kaiser Health News’ “Spurred By Convenience, Millennials Often Spurn The ‘Family Doctor’ Model,” by Sandra G. Boodman

Anna Edney: The New York Times’ “These Cholesterol-Reducers May Save Lives. So Why Aren’t Heart Patients Getting Them?” and “In Medical Reporting, the Impact of Patients’ Stories,” both by Gina Kolata

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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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