Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Still More ‘Medicare-For-All’

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a presidential candidate, unveiled the 2019 version of his “Medicare-for-all” bill this week. But even more than two decades after first proposing a single-payer plan for the U.S., Sanders still has not proposed a way to finance such a major undertaking.

Congress continued to pursue its examination of high prescription drug prices this week by calling to testify both insulin makers and the drug “middlemen” known as pharmacy benefit managers.

And Idaho is following Utah in trying to scale back an expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act approved by voters last November.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Sarah Kliff of Vox.com, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post.

Also, Rovner interviews Ceci Connolly, president and CEO of the Alliance of Community Health Plans.

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 New York Times’ “Would ‘Medicare for All’ Save Billions or Cost Billions?” By Josh Katz, Kevin Quealy and Margot Sanger-Katz

Sarah Kliff: Politico’s “Public Option Hits a Wall in Blue States,” by Rachana Pradhan and Dan Goldberg

Margot Sanger-Katz: Politico’s “Obamacare Fight Obscures America’s Real Health Care Crisis: Money,” by Joanne Kenen

Paige Winfield Cunningham: STAT News’ “Amazon Alexa Is Now HIPAA-Compliant. Tech Giant Says Health Data Can Now Be Accessed Securely,” by Casey Ross

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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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