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 Griffin of Bloomberg News join KFF Health News’ 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’s abortion ban.  

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too: 

Julie Rovner: ProPublica’s “How Lincare Became a Multibillion-Dollar Medicare Scofflaw,” by Peter Elkind.  

Sandhya Raman: ProPublica’s “How UnitedHealth’s Playbook for Limiting Mental Health Coverage Puts Countless Americans’ Treatment at Risk,” by Annie Waldman.  

Riley Ray Griffin: The New York Times’ “A.I. Chatbots Defeated Doctors at Diagnosing Illness,” by Gina Kolata.  

Rachel Cohrs Zhang: CNBC’s “Dental Supply Stock Surges on RFK’s Anti-Fluoride Stance, Activist Involvement,” by Alex Harring.  

Click here for a transcript of the episode.

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