In his proposed budget, President Joe Biden called for a boost in health spending that includes billions of dollars to prepare for a future pandemic. But that doesn’t include money he says is needed immediately for testing and treating covid.

Also this week, federal regulators authorized a second booster shot for people over age 50 yet gave little guidance to consumers about who needs the shot and when.

Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post, Jennifer Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times, and Rachana Pradhan of KHN join KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these issues and more.

Plus, Julie Rovner interviews KHN’s Julie Appleby, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a very expensive air ambulance ride.

For extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week that they think you should read, too:

Mary Agnes Carey: The New Yorker’s “A Freelancer’s Forty-Three Years in the American Health-Care System,” by David Owen

Amy Goldstein: Stat’s "NIH’s Identity Crisis: The Pandemic and The Search for a New Leader Leave the Agency at a Crossroads," by Lev Facher

Jen Haberkorn: The New York Times’ "F.D.A. Rushed a Drug for Preterm Births. Did It Put Speed Over Science?" by Christina Jewett

Rachana Pradhan: The Washington Post’s "‘Is This What a Good Mother Looks Like?’” by William Wan

Click here for a transcript of the episode.

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