What the Health? From KFF Health News

President Donald Trump is nominating Heidi Overton, a physician who is currently a White House policy adviser, to lead the FDA, which has been without a Senate-confirmed leader since May. Overton has a controversial history and may face some obstacles to winning confirmation, though Republicans have been reluctant to push back too strongly against most of the president’s picks. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this story and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, who has already reshaped the generic drug market and now has his eye on the rest of the healthcare system. 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: Mother Jones’ “The Orwellian Company Behind ICE’s New Electric Shock Gloves,” by Sophie Hurwitz. Shefali Luthra: The 19th’s “Tik Tok’s Fake GLP-1 Market Preys on Women Trying To Lose Weight,” by Barbara Rodriguez. Alice Miranda Ollstein: The Texas Observer’s “Texas Maternal Mortality Committee’s Next Report Will Skip Post-‘Roe’ Deaths. Lawmakers Suspect Political Influence,” by Mary Tuma. Joanne Kenen: Politico’s “AI Slop Is Swamping a House Office That Drafts US Laws,” by Owen Dahlkamp.

Michigan voters this week chose former Detroit public health director Abdul El-Sayed as the Democratic nominee for the state’s open Senate seat. El-Sayed has made “Medicare for All” a major part of his campaign and further elevated the issue. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Amanda Seitz of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this story and more. Also this week, as part of the “How Would You Fix It?” series, Rovner interviews Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), who has a new bill that would provide universal health coverage for children. 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 New York Times’ “Spotlight on Fauci Said To Boost Book Sales for Kennedy and His Publisher,” by Sheryl Gay Stolberg. Alice Miranda Ollstein: NOTUS’ “Rand Paul’s Fauci Diary Dump Exposed People’s Medical Histories,” by Margaret Manto. Joanne Kenen: The New York Times Magazine’s “The U.S. Relies on Family Caregivers. Millions of Them Are Kids,” by Helen Ouyang. Amanda Seitz: The Wall Street Journal’s “A Florida Surrogate, a Father in China, and the Babies Caught Between,” by Katherine Long.

A new report finds that participation in the federal food stamp program is down far more than was predicted when the Republican-led Congress approved cuts in 2025. That portends a similar fate for Medicaid, as states ready comparable changes. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, as part of the “How Would You Fix It?” series, Rovner interviews GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. 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 New York Times’ “The Fake Influencers Selling Wellness on Your Feed,” by Arijeta Lajka, Isabelle Niu, Mark Boyer, James Surdam and Dan T. Peters. Joanne Kenen: Stat’s “A Most-Wanted Fugitive Appears To Have Been Secretly Working as a Biotech Executive,” by Adam Feuerstein. Margot Sanger-Katz: NPR’s “Amid Nurse Shortage, a University Rolls Out the Welcome Mat for Men,” by Andrea Hsu. Alice Miranda Ollstein: Roll Call’s “Trump Administration Puts Kibosh on HIV Prevention Funding,” by Ariel Cohen.