President Donald Trump has said he won’t support major cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program for people with low incomes, but he has endorsed a House budget plan that calls for major cuts, leaving the program’s future in doubt. Meanwhile, thousands of workers at the Department of Health and Human Services were fired over the holiday weekend, from the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with possibly more cuts to come.

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

Visit our website to read a transcript of this episode.

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

Julie Rovner: KFF Health News’ “Pain Clinics Made Millions From ‘Unnecessary’ Injections Into ‘Human Pin Cushions’” by Brett Kelman. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The Washington Post’s “U.S. Reverses Plan To Shut Down Free Covid Test Program,” by Lena H. Sun and Carolyn Y. Johnson. 

Joanne Kenen: Wired’s “The Ketamine-Fueled ‘Psychedelic Slumber Parties’ That Get Tech Execs Back on Track,” by Elana Klein. 

Sarah Karlin-Smith: Fortune’s “The Dietary Supplements You Think Are Improving Your Health May Be Damaging Your Liver, Research Warns,” by Lindsey Leake. 

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