Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ States Race To Reverse ‘Roe’


Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen on SoundCloud.


Alabama is the latest in a growing list of states passing bans on abortion in an attempt to get the Supreme Court to weaken or overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. Unlike most of the other state laws that have passed this year, however, the Alabama law would completely ban abortion except when the woman’s life was in danger from the pregnancy.

On Capitol Hill, separate bipartisan groups in the House and Senate unveiled draft proposals to address “surprise” medical bills that patients get when they inadvertently receive care outside their insurance network. The bills take different approaches, however, so it’s not clear where a compromise might lie.

And in Washington state, the legislature has approved a new “public option” health insurance plan — to be run by private insurers — that will become available for consumers who purchase their own insurance.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner from Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

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

Julie Rovner: The Atlantic’s “Why the Government Pays Billions to People Who Claim Injury by Vaccines,” by James Hamblin

Margot Sanger-Katz: Journal of the American Medical Association’s “Association of a Beverage Tax on Sugar-Sweetened and Artificially Sweetened Beverages With Changes in Beverage Prices and Sales at Chain Retailers in a Large Urban Setting,” by Christina A. Roberto, Hannah G. Lawman, Michael T. LeVasseur and others

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The New York Times’ “Why Politics Should Be Kept Out of Miscarriages,” by Aaron E. Carroll

Anna Edney: Kaiser Health News’ “No Mercy: Dealing With Hospital Closure, Pioneer Kansas Town Asks: What Comes Next?” by Sarah Jane Tribble

To hear all our podcasts, click here.

And subscribe to What the Health? on iTunesStitcherGoogle Play or Spotify.


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

Exit mobile version