KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: Trump-Harris Debate Showcases Health Policy Differences

The Host Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner Read Julie's stories. Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News weekly health policy news podcast, What the Health? A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book Health Care Politics and Policy A to Z, now in its third edition.

As expected, the presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris offered few new details of their positions on abortion, the Affordable Care Act, and other critical health issues. But it did underscore for voters dramatic differences between the two candidates.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration issued rules attempting to better enforce mental health parity the federal governments requirement that services for mental health care and substance use disorders be covered by insurance to the same extent as other medical services.

This weeks panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, Riley Griffin of Bloomberg News, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post. Panelists Rachel Cohrs Zhang Stat News @rachelcohrs Read Rachel's stories. Riley Griffin Bloomberg @rileyraygriffin Read Riley's stories. Lauren Weber The Washington Post @LaurenWeberHP Read Lauren's stories.

Among the takeaways from this weeks episode: Trump declined to say during the debate whether hed veto legislation implementing a nationwide abortion ban. But he could effectively ban the procedure without Congress passing anything because of the 150-year-old Comstock Act. And Project 2025, a policy blueprint by the conservative Heritage Foundation, calls for doing just that. There is a good chance that enhanced federal subsidies for ACA coverage that were introduced during the pandemic could expire next year, depending on which party controls Congress. The subsidies have helped more people secure zero-premium health coverage through the ACA exchanges, though Republicans say the subsidies cost too much to keep. Residents in states that havent expanded Medicaid coverage including Florida and Texas would be most affected. The Census Bureau reports that the uninsured rate didnt change much last year after hitting a record low in the first quarter. But the reports methodology prevented it from capturing the experiences of many people disenrolled and left uninsured after whats known as the Medicaid unwinding began. Meanwhile, a Treasury Department report sheds light on just how many Americans have benefited from the ACA, as polls show the health law has also grown more popular. And Congress has yet to pass key government spending bills, meaning the nation (again) faces a possible federal government shutdown starting Oct. 1. It remains to be seen what could pass during a lame-duck session after the November elections. In 2020, the end-of-the-year spending package featured many health care priorities and that could happen again. Email Sign-Up

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

Julie Rovner: The Wall Street Journals A Nurse Practitioners $25,000 in Student-Debt Relief Turned Into a $217,500 Bill From the Government, by Rebecca Ballhaus.  

Lauren Weber: Stats Youth Vaping Continues Its Tumble From a Juul-Fueled High, by Lizzy Lawrence.  

Riley Griffin: Bloomberg News Lilly Bulks Up Irish Operations in Obesity Drug Production Push, by Madison Muller.  

Rachel Cohrs Zhang: ProPublicas I Dont Want To Die: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurers Ghost Network, by Max Blau.

Also mentioned on this weeks podcast: KFF Health News US Uninsured Rate Was Stable in 2023, Even as States Medicaid Purge Began, by Phil Galewitz. Louisiana Illuminators Doctors Grapple With How To Save Womens Lives Amid Confusion and Angst Over New Louisiana Law, by Lorena ONeil. ProPublicas Why I Left the Network, by Annie Waldman, Maya Miller, Duaa Eldeib, and Max Blau. The New York Times How a Leading Chain of Psychiatric Hospitals Traps Patients, by Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Katie Thomas. Stats Troubled For-Profit Chains Are Stealthily Operating Dozens of Psychiatric Hospitals Under Nonprofits Names, by Tara Bannow. Credits Francis Ying Audio producer Emmarie Huetteman Editor

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