What the Health? From KFF Health News

Amanda Seitz, a KFF Health News reporter; Mollyann Brodie, a public opinion research leader; and Larry Levitt, a health policy expert, examine Democrats’ sweeping midterm victory. They explore reversing Medicaid and ACA cuts, the fight over funding coverage, drug price negotiations, bipartisan cost reforms, and the future of public health oversight. Abortion, Medicare for All, and the challenge of delivering affordable care also take center stage.

Open enrollment for 2027 Affordable Care Act plans kicks off in most states Nov. 1, and consumers can expect higher premiums and more bureaucracy to get covered. Meanwhile, Democrats are planning a major health agenda if they retake majorities in the  House and/or the Senate. Julie Appleby of KFF Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Victoria Knight of Bloomberg Government join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner announces the winners of the KFF Health News Halloween haiku contest. Visit our website for 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: WBEZ Chicago’s “This Illinois Law Was Supposed To Help Families. It’s Failing Them Instead,” by Kristen Schorsch. Anna Edney: KFF Health News’ “Hospital Beds for the Nation’s Sickest Kids Are Disappearing,” by Katheryn Houghton. Victoria Knight: The New York Times’ “She Trusted ChatGPT With Her Medication Decisions. It Cost Her Everything,” by Teddy Rosenbluth.  Julie Appleby: The Washington Post’s “We Disagree About Politics. But We See The Same Problems In Health Care,” by Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Brian Blase. 

Amanda Seitz, a KFF Health News policy reporter, and Alice Miranda Ollstein, a Politico health care reporter and author of Side Effects, discuss why Medicaid cuts are becoming a 2026 campaign weapon. They examine fraud crackdowns, work requirements, faulty eligibility systems, and abortion bans’ effects on research and medical care. The panel also explores hepatitis B vaccines, drug imports, women’s health policy, and timely reading recommendations.

Dan Weissmann, creator of “An Arm and a Leg,” joins health policy journalists Joanne Kenen, Sandhya Raman, and Paige Winfield Cunningham. They explore the administration’s anti-fraud campaign, ACA subsidy removals, election-year health politics, and efforts to overhaul surprise-billing rules. They also examine a proposed vaccine injury clinic and reporting system, Medicare’s increasingly tricky enrollment choices, disappearing Advantage plans, AI lobbying, peptide safety, and the legacy of infectious-disease reporter Helen Branswell.

Anna Edney of Bloomberg News covers pharmaceuticals and federal health policy; Paige Winfield Cunningham reports on health care and Washington politics; Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico covers Congress and reproductive health. They tackle voters’ worries about medical costs, Medicaid cuts, vaccine controversies, mifepristone, and FDA politics. Plus, an emergency-room bill arrives after a patient leaves untreated.

Aaron Carroll, AcademyHealth’s physician CEO, joins reporters Rachana Pradhan, Shefali Luthra, and Rachel Roubein for a sharp look at MAHA’s industry-friendly turn, stalled food reforms, and Democrats courting its voters. They examine withheld federal funds, CDC cuts, Medicaid abortion restrictions, mifepristone shield laws, and key state ballot fights. Carroll also discusses the dismantling of AHRQ and its impact on health care research.

Sarah Jane Tribble, a KFF Health News reporter, Tami Luhby, a CNN health and economic policy journalist, and Joanne Kenen, a Johns Hopkins and Politico-affiliated writer, examine healthcare’s role in the 2026 elections. They discuss affordability, rural voters, ACA enrollment and alleged fraud, insurance stability, politicized NIH funding, vaccine messaging, drug prices, and a contentious surrogacy case.

Sabrina Corlette, a Georgetown health insurance policy expert, joins reporters Anna Edney, Tami Luhby, and Alice Miranda Ollstein. They explore AI’s potential to enable bioweapons, deny claims, amplify bias, and reach patients before safety standards are set. The discussion also covers proposed ACA payments, surprise-billing costs, abortion policy battles, vaccine skepticism, and practical reforms to make insurance simpler and more affordable.

Lauren Sausser, a KFF Health News reporter on medical bills, joins Sandhya Raman, Bloomberg Law health policy correspondent, Amanda Seitz, KFF Health News policy reporter, and Joanne Kenen, a public health journalist. They explore surging health costs, medical debt, hospital politics, HHS upheaval, and mifepristone litigation. The panel also examines abortion bans, measles confusion, and why a breast MRI brought a hefty bill.

As summer comes to a close, some of the season’s major health policy stories continue to simmer, including declining insurance coverage, increasing measles cases, and cuts to federal health programs. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Dean Rosen about his work for former Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum, a Kansas Republican and the first woman to lead a major Senate committee, who died last week at 94. Visit our website for 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: The Washington Post’s “Why We Should Stop Eating Lettuce, Cyclospora or Not,” by Tamar Haspel.  Margot Sanger-Katz: Stat’s “Comments on OMB Research Rule Mysteriously Removed From Federal Website,” by Anil Oza.  Rachel Roubein: The New York Times’ “Americans Encounter Risks at Psychedelic Clinics Abroad,” by Noah Daly and Andrew Jacobs.  Shefali Luthra: The Washington Post and KFF Health News’ “Why Some Couples Are Combining a European Vacation With Their IVF Treatments,” by LJ Dawson.