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The infrastructure bill passed Friday funnels $15 billion into lead pipe remediation. Water quality experts say the cost of getting rid of all lead pipes could ultimately cost $60 billion. Still, some health advocates say the new funding will be transformative in allowing communities such as Houston鈥檚 Fifth Ward to fix its pipes.
But providers do not expect contraception to blunt the law鈥檚 effects.
Democratic negotiators on Capitol Hill appear to be nearing a compromise on President Joe Biden鈥檚 social spending agenda, spurred partly by Democratic losses on Election Day in Virginia. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court hints it might allow abortion providers to sue Texas over its restrictive new ban. But the relief, if it comes, could be short-lived if the court uses a second case, challenging a law in Mississippi, to weaken or overturn Roe v. Wade. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN鈥檚 Rae Ellen Bichell, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature about an emergency bill for a nonemergency birth.
The latest iteration of President Joe Biden's social-spending package would close the health insurance gap for at least 2.2 million people, making a huge difference especially in the South, where political opposition has blocked Medicaid expansion.
The arguments before the justices did not deal directly with the state鈥檚 ban on abortions after six weeks. Instead, they centered on the unique mechanism in the law that gives state officials no role in enforcing the ban.
The Supreme Court justices, who accepted the case only 10 days before the arguments will be made, may skirt the issue of abortion and concentrate instead on the legality of the law鈥檚 unusual tack to let private citizens enforce it.
President Joe Biden unveiled a compromise 鈥淏uild Back Better鈥 framework shortly before taking off for key meetings in Europe, but it鈥檚 unclear whether the framework can win the votes of all Democrats in the House and Senate, and it leaves out some of the party鈥檚 health priorities, notably significant provisions to lower prescription drug prices. Meanwhile, younger children may soon be eligible for covid vaccines. Joanne Kenen of Politico and Johns Hopkins, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.
The pandemic has so seriously strained already tight state psychiatric hospitals in Georgia, Virginia, Texas and elsewhere that these facilities for the poorest and most vulnerable people with mental illness struggle to admit new patients.
Like almost everything else associated with the covid-19 pandemic, partisans are taking sides over whether vaccines should be mandated. Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are still struggling to find compromise in their effort to expand health insurance and other social programs. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews best-selling author Beth Macy about her book 鈥淒opesick,鈥 and the new Hulu miniseries based on it.
Federally qualified health centers from California to Michigan are mired in a bureaucratic mess over how they should be paid under Medicaid for each dose of covid vaccine given. In California alone, clinics await reimbursement for at least 1 million shots, causing a 鈥渕assive cash flow problem.鈥
The American Rescue Plan Act, passed by Congress in March, provides $130 billion to cities, counties and tribes 鈥 with few restrictions on how the money can be spent.
A patient from Dallas got a PCR test in a free-standing suburban emergency room. The out-of-network charge: $54,000.
Efforts to give 2.2 million Americans health insurance hang in the balance as Congress debates a massive spending bill. The so-called Medicaid gap is felt most acutely in Texas, where about half of those who stand to gain coverage live.
The pandemic is devastating rural America, where lower vaccination rates are compounding the already limited medical care.
Congress is back in session with a short time to finish a long to-do list, including keeping the government operating and paying its bills. Hanging in the balance is President Joe Biden鈥檚 entire domestic agenda, including major changes proposed for Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, the new Texas abortion law that bans the procedure early in pregnancy is prompting action in Washington. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also, Rovner interviews former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb about his new book on the covid-19 pandemic.
Capitol Hill lawmakers mobilize to support a bill that would write abortion protections into federal law. Unlikely to succeed, the exercise follows a tactic that proved unsuccessful in 1992.
Democrats have hit a snag in their effort to compile a $3.5 trillion social-spending bill this fall 鈥 moderates are resisting support for Medicare drug price negotiation provisions that would pay for many of the measure鈥檚 health benefit improvements. Meanwhile, the new abortion restrictions in Texas have moved the divisive issue back to the political front burner. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Rachel Cohrs of Stat and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join KHN鈥檚 Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interview鈥檚 KHN鈥檚 Phil Galewitz about the latest KHN-NPR 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 installment, about two similar jaw surgeries with very different price tags.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
Back-to-school season has fueled immediate covid outbreaks. Instead of beefing up protections, some districts are letting students go without masks, physical distancing and quarantines. And parents are left to make impossibly tough decisions.
Efforts by states and the private health plans that many states pay to cover low-income Americans has been scattershot and hampered by a lack of data.
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