GOP Mulls More Health Cuts

The Host

Recent polling finds that health costs are a top worry for much of the American public, while Republicans in Congress are considering still more cuts to federal health spending on programs such as Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled that Colorado cannot ban mental health professionals from using “conversion therapy” to treat LGBTQ+ minors, a decision that’s likely to affect other states with similar laws.

This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law.

Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:

• Republicans reportedly are weighing still more cuts to federal health spending. With the war in Iran draining military coffers, GOP leaders in Congress are eying a drop in health funding — a decision that could exacerbate problems following the passage of legislation expected to lead to major reductions in Medicaid spending, as well as the expiration of enhanced ACA premium subsidies that were not renewed by lawmakers last year. And President Donald Trump’s budget could include another sizable reduction in funding to the National Institutes of Health.
• The Supreme Court this week struck down a Colorado law prohibiting licensed professionals from practicing a form of therapy that tries to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQ+ minors. States have long had the power to regulate medical care, with the goal of restricting treatments that can be harmful. Also, the Idaho Legislature passed a bill requiring teachers and doctors to out transgender minors to their parents.
• Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services is studying whether to make private Medicare Advantage plans the default option for seniors enrolling in Medicare, a change that would seem to conflict with the Trump administration’s scrutiny of overpayments to the private insurance plans. And a tech nonprofit’s lawsuit seeks to reveal more about the administration’s pilot program testing the use of artificial intelligence in prior authorization in Medicare.

Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Elisabeth Rosenthal, who wrote the last two KFF Health News “Bill of the Month” stories. If you have a medical bill that’s outrageous, infuriating, or just inscrutable, you can submit it to us here.

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

Julie Rovner: New York Magazine’s “The Dog Owners Taking Their Injured Corgis and Doodles to Tijuana: Mexico Is to Pet MRIs What Turkey Has Become for Hair Transplants,” by Helaine Olen.

Jessie Hellmann: The Texas Tribune’s “‘Don’t Take Me to the Hospital’: Undocumented Immigrants in Texas Are Delaying Medical Care,” by Colleen DeGuzman, Stephen Simpson, Terri Langford, and Dan Keemahill.

Sandhya Raman: Science’s “Supporters Push To Revive Moribund Agency Studying Patient Care,” by Jocelyn Kaiser.

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The New York Times’ “Cuban Patients Are Dying Because of U.S. Blockade, Doctors Say,” by Ed Augustin and Jack Nicas.

Also mentioned in this week’s podcast:

• KFF Health News’ “States Pay Deloitte, Others Millions To Comply With Trump Law To Cut Medicaid Rolls,” by Samantha Liss and Rachana Pradhan.
• KFF Health News’ “Trump’s Hunt for Undocumented Medicaid Enrollees Yields Few Violators,” by Phil Galewitz.
• The Colorado Sun’s “Why Children’s Hospital Colorado Has Not Resumed Gender-Affirming Care Despite a Favorable Court Ruling,” by John Ingold.
• Politico’s “Poll: The Battle for MAHA That Could Sway the Midterms,” by Alice Miranda Ollstein, Erin Doherty, Marcia Brown, and Carmen Paun.
• The New York Times Magazine’s “Why Some Teenage Girls Are Trading Medicine for MAHA,” by Coralie Kraft.
• NOTUS’ “To Sue or To Woo? The Medical Establishment Is Divided on MAHA,” by Margaret Manto.
• The Dallas Morning News’ “A Texas Pregnancy Center Told Her Everything Was Fine. Three Days Later, She Aas in the ER,” by Emily Brindley.

Click here to find all our podcasts.

And subscribe to “What the Health? From KFF Health News” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app, YouTube, Pocket Casts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.