President-elect Donald Trump has made his choices to fill some top jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services. They include controversial figures who were vocal critics of the Biden administration’s handling of the covid pandemic and have proposed sweeping changes to the agencies they would lead. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court heard its first two health-related cases of the term, challenging a Tennessee law barring transgender medical care for minors and, separately, challenging the FDA’s handling of e-cigarettes.

Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University and Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Bram Sable-Smith, who reported and wrote the latest KFF Health News-Washington Post Well+Being “Bill of the Month” feature, about an emergency room bill for a visit that didn’t get past the waiting room. 

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

Julie Rovner: The New Yorker’s “The Texas OB-GYN Exodus,” by Stephania Taladrid.  

Shefali Luthra: The Washington Post’s “Post Reports” podcast’s “A Trans Teen Takes Her Case to the Supreme Court,” by Casey Parks, Emma Talkoff, Ariel Plotnick, and Bishop Sand.  

Joanne Kenen: ProPublica’s “For Decades, Calls for Reform to Idaho’s Troubled Coroner System Have Gone Unanswered,” by Audrey Dutton.  

Sarah Karlin-Smith: Stat’s “What YouTube Health Is Doing To Combat Misinformation and Promote Evidence-Based Content,” by Nicholas St. Fleur. 

Click here to find a transcript of the episode.

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