The Host
As anticipated, the presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris supplied few new particulars of their positions on abortion, the Reasonably priced Care Act, and different vital well being points. But it surely did underscore for voters dramatic variations between the 2 candidates.
In the meantime, the Biden administration issued guidelines making an attempt to raised implement psychological well being parity — the federal authorities’s requirement that providers for psychological well being care and substance use issues be coated by insurance coverage to the identical extent as different medical providers.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Well being Information, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Stat, Riley Griffin of Bloomberg Information, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Publish.
Among the many takeaways from this week’s episode:
Trump declined to say throughout the debate whether or not he’d veto laws implementing a nationwide abortion ban. However he may successfully ban the process with out Congress passing something due to the 150-year-old Comstock Act. And Mission 2025, a coverage blueprint by the conservative Heritage Basis, requires doing simply that.
There’s a good likelihood that enhanced federal subsidies for ACA protection that have been launched throughout the pandemic may expire subsequent yr, relying on which celebration controls Congress. The subsidies have helped extra individuals safe zero-premium well being protection by means of the ACA exchanges, although Republicans say the subsidies price an excessive amount of to maintain. Residents in states that haven’t expanded Medicaid protection — together with Florida and Texas — could be most affected.
The Census Bureau reviews that the uninsured price didn’t change a lot final yr after hitting a file low within the first quarter. However the report’s methodology prevented it from capturing the experiences of many individuals disenrolled and left uninsured after what’s referred to as the Medicaid “unwinding” started. In the meantime, a Treasury Division report sheds mild on simply what number of People have benefited from the ACA, as polls present the well being regulation has additionally grown extra widespread.
And Congress has but to go key authorities spending payments, which means the nation (once more) faces a doable federal authorities shutdown beginning Oct. 1. It stays to be seen what may go throughout a lame-duck session after the November elections. In 2020, the end-of-the-year spending package deal featured many well being care priorities — and that would occur once more.
Plus, for “additional credit score,” the panelists counsel well being coverage tales they learn this week that they assume you need to learn, too:
Julie Rovner: The Wall Avenue Journal’s “A Nurse Practitioner’s $25,000 in Pupil-Debt Reduction Turned Right into a $217,500 Invoice From the Authorities,” by Rebecca Ballhaus.
Lauren Weber: Stat’s “Youth Vaping Continues Its Tumble From a Juul-Fueled Excessive,” by Lizzy Lawrence.
Riley Griffin: Bloomberg Information’ “Lilly Bulks Up Irish Operations in Weight problems Drug Manufacturing Push,” by Madison Muller.
Rachel Cohrs Zhang: ProPublica’s “‘I Don’t Need To Die’: Needing Psychological Well being Care, He Acquired Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Community,” by Max Blau.
Additionally talked about on this week’s podcast:
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