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A sweeping Trump administration order threw the nation鈥檚 health system into disarray Tuesday, as states and the health industry tried to make sense of what looked like a freeze on federal Medicaid funding.
Health leaders say a tool to boost medical coverage for Native Americans, a population that has long faced worse health outcomes than the rest of the nation, has been underused by many states and tribes since it was written into the Affordable Care Act more than a decade ago.
President Donald Trump was sworn in Monday and by Wednesday had virtually stopped scientific policymaking at the Department of Health and Human Services. While incoming administrations often pause public communications, the acting HHS head ordered an unprecedented shutdown of all outside meetings, travel, and publications. Meanwhile, Trump issued a broad array of mostly nonbinding executive orders, but notably none directly concerning abortion. Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Rodney Whitlock, a former congressional staffer, who explains the convoluted 鈥渂udget reconciliation鈥 process Republicans hope to use to enact Trump鈥檚 agenda.
With just days to go before the official launch of a new administration, the GOP-led Congress is putting together plans on how to enact incoming President Donald Trump鈥檚 agenda, with a particular emphasis on cutting spending on the Medicaid program. Meanwhile, the Biden administration makes major moves in its last days, including banning a controversial food dye and ordering cigarette companies to minimize their nicotine content. Joanne Kenen of Johns Hopkins University and Politico Magazine, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Harris Meyer, who reported and wrote the latest 吃瓜不打烊 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about a colonoscopy that came with a much larger price tag than estimated.
Republicans in Washington are working on plans to shrink Medicaid, the nearly $900-billion-a-year government health insurance program that covers 1 in 5 Americans.
Health is unlikely to be a top priority for the new GOP-led 119th Congress and President-elect Donald Trump. But it鈥檚 likely to play a key supporting role, with an abortion bill already scheduled for debate in the Senate. Meanwhile, it鈥檚 unclear when and how the new Congress will deal with the bipartisan bills jettisoned from the previous Congress鈥 year-end omnibus measure 鈥 including a major deal to rein in the power of pharmacy benefit managers. In this 鈥渃atch up on all the news you missed鈥 episode, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Legislative leaders say the decision whether to renew Montana鈥檚 Medicaid expansion program this year will loom over behavioral health spending and hospital regulation, among other topics.
As Gov. Gavin Newsom enters the second half of his final term, health care stands out as his most ambitious but glaringly incomplete initiative for California residents. The issue will likely shape his national profile for better or worse. And now, Donald Trump brings a new wrinkle.
A group of Democratic senators asked the Government Accountability Office to examine a Georgia program that requires some Medicaid enrollees to work, study, or volunteer 80 hours a month for coverage. They cited 吃瓜不打烊鈥 reporting, which has documented the program鈥檚 high costs and low enrollment.
Donald Trump鈥檚 second term is reigniting mistrust in health services among California immigrants, making it harder for community health workers to get people enrolled in Medi-Cal. Yet the president-elect is also seen as someone who could improve their lives with a better economy, even if that means forgoing health care.
Georgia鈥檚 ability to process applications for Medicaid and other public benefits has lagged since the launch of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp鈥檚 鈥淧athways鈥 Medicaid work requirement, leaving Georgia with persistently slow Medicaid application processing times.
As Donald Trump prepares to reenter the White House with a Republican-controlled Congress, health officials and community advocates in California worry that large-scale Medicaid cuts could be enacted as soon as next year. More than 60% of California鈥檚 $161 billion Medi-Cal budget comes from Washington.
About 3.7 million people are at immediate risk of losing health coverage should the federal government cut funding for Medicaid expansions, as some allies of President-elect Donald Trump have proposed. Coverage could be at risk in the 40 states that have expanded Medicaid.
GLP-1 agonist medications such as Ozempic accounted for 10% of the North Carolina state employee health plan鈥檚 prescription drug spending, so the state is no longer covering them for weight loss alone. Still, it did decide to cover them for Medicaid patients鈥 weight loss. A look inside the state鈥檚 coverage calculus.
Florida discovered a glitch in its Deloitte-run Medicaid eligibility system. The problem, alleged in court testimony, led to new mothers wrongly losing their insurance coverage.
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For nearly 15 years, the feds have had oversight of Georgia鈥檚 treatment of people with mental illness and developmental disabilities. Observers say the state still jeopardizes some of its most marginalized residents by not meeting the terms of its settlement with the Justice Department.
Not only has President-elect Donald Trump chosen prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Trump also has said he will nominate controversial TV host Mehmet Oz to run the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees coverage for nearly half of Americans. Meanwhile, the lame-duck Congress is back in Washington with just a few weeks to figure out how to wrap up work for the year. Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Riley Ray Griffin of Bloomberg News join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Sarah Varney, who has been covering a trial in Idaho challenging the lack of medical exceptions in that state鈥檚 abortion ban.
As Donald Trump readies for his return to the White House 鈥 with the backing of a GOP majority in the Senate and, possibly, the House 鈥 the entire health care industry is waiting to see what happens next. Clearly on the agenda: the future of abortion and reproductive rights, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and public health鈥檚 infrastructure. Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Jackie Forti茅r, who reported and wrote the latest 吃瓜不打烊-Washington Post 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about a 2-year-old who had a very expensive run-in with a rattlesnake.
California this year completed its Medi-Cal expansion to include income-eligible residents regardless of their immigration status. This final installment of the 鈥淔aces of Medi-Cal鈥 series profiles three of those newly eligible patients and how coverage has affected their health.
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