Congress is in recess until after Labor Day, and lawmakers won’t have much time when they return to get the government funded before the next fiscal year. Meanwhile, the Republican campaign for president has begun in earnest, and while repealing the Affordable Care Act is no longer the top promise, some candidates have lively ideas about what to do with federal health programs. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent,Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Phil Galewitz, who reported the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month,” about how a bill that should never have been sent created headaches for one patient. 

Click here for a transcript of the episode.

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

Julie Rovner: Stat’s “Henrietta Lacks Settlement Hailed by Experts as Step Toward Correcting Medicine’s Racist History,” by Annalisa Merelli. 

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The Tampa Bay Times’ “Florida Veered From Norms to Strip Transgender Care From Medicaid, Records Show,” by Emily L. Mahoney and Romy Ellenbogen. 

Sandhya Raman: KFF Health News’ “Black Women Weigh Emerging Risks of ‘Creamy Crack’ Hair Straighteners,” by Ronnie Cohen. 

Lauren Weber: Politico’s “CDC Investigators Find More TB Infections Linked to Bone Graft Materials,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein and Lauren Gardner. 

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