Epidemic: What Good Is a Vaccine When There Is No Rice?
What good is a vaccine when there is no rice? Episode 7 of 鈥淓radicating Smallpox鈥 explores the barriers public health workers face in communities where people鈥檚 basic needs aren鈥檛 being met.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': The Open Enrollment Mixing Bowl
Open enrollment for Medicare beneficiaries with private health plans began Oct. 15, to be followed Nov. 1 by open enrollment for Affordable Care Act plans. The selection for both is large 鈥 often too large to be navigated easily alone. And people who choose incorrectly can end up with unaffordable medical bills. Meanwhile, those on both sides of the abortion issue are looking to Ohio鈥檚 November ballot measure on abortion to see whether anti-abortion forces can break their losing streak in statewide ballot questions since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': Health Funding in Question in a Speaker-Less Congress
A bitterly divided Congress managed to keep the federal government running for several more weeks, while House Republicans struggle 鈥 again 鈥 to choose a leader. Meanwhile, many people removed from state Medicaid rolls are not finding their way to Affordable Care Act insurance, and a major investigation by The Washington Post attributes the decline in U.S. life expectancy to more than covid-19 and opioids. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join 蘑菇影院 Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews physician-author-playwright Samuel Shem about 鈥淥ur Hospital,鈥 his new novel about the health workforce in the age of covid.
An Arm and a Leg: John Green vs. Johnson & Johnson (Part 1)
Pharmaceutical patents can drive up the costs of lifesaving medications. Hear what author and YouTube star John Green is doing to make tuberculosis drugs more accessible to the people who need them most.
Epidemic: Bodies Remember What Was Done to Them
Trust is hard to build and easy to break. In Episode 6 of the 鈥淓radicating Smallpox鈥 podcast, meet Chandrakant Pandav, a health worker who used laughter and song to try to rebuild trust with communities harmed by India鈥檚 sometimes violent and coercive family planning campaign.
In this special encore episode, 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥 asks three people who have served as the nation鈥檚 top health official: What does a day in the life of the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services look like? And how much of their agenda is set by the White House? Taped in June before a live audience at Aspen Ideas: Health, part of the Aspen Ideas Festival, in Aspen, Colorado, host and chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner leads a rare conversation with the current and two former HHS secretaries. Secretary Xavier Becerra and former secretaries Kathleen Sebelius and Alex Azar talk candidly about what it takes to run a department with more than 80,000 employees and a budget larger than those of many countries.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': More Medicaid Messiness
At least 30 states are reinstating coverage for children wrongly removed from the rolls under Medicaid redetermination, the federal government reported. It鈥檚 just the latest hiccup in the massive effort to review the eligibility of Medicaid beneficiaries now that the program鈥檚 pandemic-era expansion has expired. And federal oversight of the so-called unwinding would be further complicated by an impending government shutdown. Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of Pink Sheet join 蘑菇影院 Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 Samantha Liss, who reported and wrote the latest 蘑菇影院 Health News-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about a hospital bill that followed a deceased patient鈥檚 family for more than a year.
Episode 5 of the 鈥淓radicating Smallpox鈥 podcast explores how a partnership between public health institutions and a huge, influential private company was key in the campaign to eliminate smallpox.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': Countdown to Shutdown
Congress appears to be careening toward a government shutdown, as a small band of House conservatives vow to block any funding for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 unless they win deeper cuts to health and other domestic programs. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump continues to roil the GOP presidential primary field, this time with comments about abortion. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat, and Tami Luhby of CNN join 蘑菇影院 Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥 the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': Underinsured Is the New Uninsured
The percentage of working-age adults with health insurance went up and the uninsured rate dropped last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. There isn鈥檛 much suspense about which way the uninsured rate is now trending, as states continue efforts to strip ineligible beneficiaries from their Medicaid rolls. But is the focus on the uninsured obscuring the struggles of the underinsured? Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico join 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 Emmarie Huetteman to discuss these issues and more.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': Welcome Back, Congress. Now Get to Work.聽
Congress returns from its summer recess with a long list of tasks and only a few work days to get them done. On top of the annual spending bills needed to keep the government operating, on the list are bills to renew the global HIV/AIDS program, PEPFAR, and the community health centers program. Meanwhile, over the recess, the Biden administration released the names of the first 10 drugs selected for the Medicare price negotiation program.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': 3 Health Policy Experts You Should Know
In this special episode of 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥 host Julie Rovner interviews three health policy experts.
Epidemic: Speedboat Epidemiology
In Bangladesh, smallpox eradication workers went to great lengths to vaccinate even one person, sometimes traveling by speedboat, crossing rickety bamboo bridges or leech-infested paddy fields. Episode 4 of the 鈥淓radicating Smallpox鈥 podcast is about what it takes to bring care directly to people where they are.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': A Not-So-Health-y GOP Debate
The first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 cycle took place without front-runner Donald Trump 鈥 and with hardly a mention of health issues save for abortion. Meanwhile, in Florida, patients dropped from the Medicaid program are suing the state for not giving them enough notice or a way to contest their being dropped from the program. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Victoria Knight of Axios join 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥 the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': Abortion Pill鈥檚 Legal Limbo Continues
A federal appeals court issued a split decision on whether the abortion pill mifepristone should remain on the market 鈥 rejecting a lower court鈥檚 decision to effectively cancel the drug鈥檚 FDA approval in 2000, while ordering the rollback of more recent rules that made the drug easier to obtain. Nothing changes immediately, however, as the Supreme Court blocked the lower court鈥檚 ruling in the spring. It will be up to the high court to determine whether the pill remains available in the U.S. and under which conditions. Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥 the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week they think you should read, too.
An Arm and a Leg: How a Surprise Bill Can Hitch a Ride to the Hospital
The No Surprises Act has helped rein in out-of-network medical bills, but ground ambulances are a costly exception. Hear why this service can still hit patients with big bills and what to do if you get one.
In the early 1970s, public health workers buoyed by the motto 鈥渮ero pox!鈥 worked across India to achieve 100% vaccination against smallpox. This episode is about what happened when these zealous young people encountered hesitation.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': On Abortion Rights, Ohio Is the New Kansas
Nearly a year to the day after Kansas voters surprised the nation by defeating an anti-abortion ballot question, Ohio voters defeated a similar, if cagier, effort to limit access in that state. This week, they rejected an effort to raise the threshold for approval of future ballot measures from a simple majority, which would have made it harder to protect abortion access with yet another ballot question come November. Meanwhile, the number of Americans without health insurance has dropped to an all-time low, though few noticed. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Emmarie Huetteman of 蘑菇影院 Health News join 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Kate McEvoy, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, about how the 鈥淢edicaid unwinding鈥 is going, as millions have their eligibility for coverage rechecked.
蘑菇影院 Health News' 'What the Health?': Congress Is Out. The Presidential Campaign Is In.
Congress is in recess until after Labor Day, and lawmakers won鈥檛 have much time when they return to get the government funded before the next fiscal year. Meanwhile, the Republican campaign for president has begun in earnest, and while repealing the Affordable Care Act is no longer the top promise, some candidates have lively ideas about what to do with federal health programs. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 蘑菇影院 Health News鈥 Phil Galewitz, who reported the latest 蘑菇影院 Health News-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month,鈥 about how a bill that should never have been sent created headaches for one patient.
Who gets credit for wiping smallpox from the planet? American men have been widely recognized while the contributions of South Asian public health workers have been less celebrated. Episode 2 of the 鈥淓radicating Smallpox鈥 podcast tells the story of Mahendra Dutta, an Indian public health leader, whose political savvy helped usher in a transformative approach to finding and containing smallpox cases.
