The Biden administration has decided to try to fix the so-called “family glitch” in the Affordable Care Act without an act of Congress. The provision has prevented workers’ families from getting subsidized coverage if an employer offer is unaffordable. Meanwhile, Medicare’s open enrollment period begins Oct. 15, and private Medicare Advantage plans are poised to cover more than half of Medicare’s 65 million enrollees.

Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat News join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these topics and more.

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read:

Julie Rovner: KHN’s “If You’re Worried About the Environment, Consider Being Composted When You Die,” by Bernard J. Wolfson

Margot Sanger-Katz: KHN’s “Baby, That Bill Is High: Private Equity ‘Gambit’ Squeezes Excessive ER Charges From Routine Births,” by Rae Ellen Bichell

Joanne Kenen: The Food & Environmental Reporting Network’s “For One Historically Black California Town, a Century of Water Access Denied,” by Teresa Cotsirilos 

Rachel Cohrs: Stat’s “A Miniscule New HHS Office Has a Mammoth Goal: Tackling Environmental Justice,” by Sarah Owermohle

Click here for a transcript of the episode.

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