What About the State of Health?

About this episode

The episode discusses the lack of focus on health care in Trump's State of the Union address and the nomination of Casey Means as U.S. surgeon general.

Health care got barely a mention in President Donald Trump’s record-long State of the Union address this week. Ahead of the midterms, the Trump administration has presented few concrete plans to address what Americans say is the biggest problem with health care: its skyrocketing costs. Meanwhile, Trump’s pick to become U.S. surgeon general, Casey Means, got her long-delayed nomination hearing in the Senate, where she faced some skeptical questions from Democrats and Republicans alike. Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Visit our website for a transcript of this episode. Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read (or wrote) this week that they think you should read, too: Julie Rovner: KFF Health News’ “ When It Comes to Health Insurance, Federal Dollars Support More Than ACA Plans ,” by Julie Appleby. Sheryl Gay Stolberg: ProPublica’s “ South Carolina Hospitals Aren’t Required To Disclose Measles-Related Admissions. That Leaves Doctors in the Dark ,” by Jennifer Berry Hawes. Lauren Weber: The…

People in this episode

Hosts: Julie Rovner, KFF Health News

Guests: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Lauren Weber, Alice Miranda Ollstein

Topics covered

• health care costs
• State of the Union
• surgeon general nomination
• midterm elections
• health policy

Keywords

• health care
• Trump
• surgeon general
• midterms
• costs
• policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico

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