Julie Rovner

Listen: How the End of 鈥楻oe鈥 Is Reshaping the Medical Workforce

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

In this episode of 鈥淭he Indicator From Planet Money,鈥 蜜芽传媒 Health News鈥 chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, reports on how the medical labor force is changing post-Roe v. Wade and why graduating medical students, from OB-GYNs to pediatricians, are avoiding training in states with abortion bans.

Republicans Are Downplaying Abortion, but It Keeps Coming Up

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

Torn between a base that wants more restrictions on reproductive health care and a moderate majority that does not, it seems many Republicans would rather take an off-ramp than a victory lap when it comes to abortion. But they can鈥檛 escape talking about it.

Wyden Demands Penalties for Obamacare Enrollment Fraud

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

Lawmakers and state officials are turning up the heat on federal regulators to stop unscrupulous, commission-hungry insurance agents from enrolling thousands of people in Affordable Care Act plans, or switching their coverage, without their knowledge. Customers often don鈥檛 discover the changes until they鈥檙e denied medical coverage or get stuck with a bill for ACA tax […]

Abortion Bans Are Repelling the Nation鈥檚 Future Doctors

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

Ash Panakam is about to graduate from Harvard Medical School. She鈥檚 from Georgia and always assumed she would return to the South for her residency. But the Supreme Court鈥檚 2022 decision overturning the nationwide right to abortion changed everything. 鈥淯ltimately I shifted my selection pretty drastically,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 was struggling to find a residency […]

Biden鈥檚 Election-Year Play to Further Expand Obamacare

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

The Biden administration wants to make it easier for Americans to get dental care. But don鈥檛 try booking an appointment just yet. A new regulation out this month allows states to include adult dental care as a benefit that health insurers must cover under the Affordable Care Act. Following record ACA enrollment this year, the proposal represents an […]

Joe Biden鈥檚 Skittish Support for Abortion Rights

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

President Biden spent much of his State of the Union speech last week talking about two subjects central to his reelection campaign while seemingly trying not to name them. One was Donald Trump, or as Biden called him, 鈥渕y predecessor.鈥 The other was abortion. It鈥檚 hardly news that Biden, an 81-year-old devout Catholic, is uncomfortable […]

Nikki Haley Wants 鈥楥onsensus鈥 on Contraception. It鈥檚 Not That Easy.

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

Nikki Haley, the last candidate standing between Donald Trump and the GOP presidential nomination, insists that being 鈥渦napologetically pro-life鈥 doesn鈥檛 make her anti-birth control. 鈥淟et鈥檚 find consensus,鈥 she urged at a GOP presidential debate in November. 鈥淟et鈥檚 make sure we make contraception accessible.鈥  If only consensus were that easy. In some conservative circles, contraception is […]

A Legal Battle Over Herring Fishing Has Big Implications for Health Care

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

What do herring fishing and health policy have in common? Quite a bit, it turns out, owing to a case now before the Supreme Court. If the justices rule as expected, based on this month鈥檚 oral arguments, they could dramatically change the way federal health agencies operate. 鈥淭he upheaval caused 鈥 would be immense,鈥 argues […]

What Would a Second Trump Presidency Look Like for Health Care?

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

Health policy during Donald Trump鈥檚 tenure was dominated by covid-19 and a failed effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. His appointments to the Supreme Court led to the end of national abortion rights, and he took steps to increase hospital price transparency and improve care for veterans.

The AMA Wants a Medicare Cut Reversed 鈥 And Lawmakers To Stay Out of Care

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

Congress is back this week and feverishly working on a bipartisan agreement to fund the government for the rest of the 2024 fiscal year. Ahead of a potential vote, I spoke with Jesse Ehrenfeld, the president of the American Medical Association, the nation鈥檚 largest lobby group for doctors, about his organization鈥檚 priorities in Washington.  Some […]

Republicans Once Championed Public Health. What Happened?

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

It wasn鈥檛 that long ago that Republicans were all-in on boosting public health spending. 鈥淭he highest investment priority in Washington should be to double the federal budget for scientific research,鈥 former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) wrote in a 1999 op-ed in The Washington Post. Big spending increases for the National Institutes of Health soon […]

Abortion 鈥淯ntil the Day of Birth鈥 Is Almost Never a Thing

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

It鈥檚 one of the most frequent claims made by antiabortion lawmakers: That abortion rights supporters favor allowing abortions literally until the end of pregnancy. 鈥淔rankly I think it鈥檚 unethical and immoral to allow for abortions up until the day of birth,鈥 Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said at last week鈥檚 GOP presidential primary debate. At that […]

The AMA May Reconsider Single-Payer Health Care

蜜芽传媒 Health News Original

Is the American Medical Association going soft on single-payer health care? We鈥檙e about to find out. For more than a century, the most influential U.S. physician group has stridently opposed what could generally be described as 鈥渘ational health insurance.鈥 It famously helped defeat health reform efforts in the 1930s and 1940s, delayed the establishment of […]