Washington’s Slow Churn

Stemming gun violence is back on the legislative agenda following three mass shootings in less than a month, but it’s hard to predict success when so many previous efforts have failed. Meanwhile, lawmakers must soon decide if they will extend current premium subsidies for those buying health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, and the Biden administration acts, belatedly, on Medicare premiums.

Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Rachel Cohrs of Stat join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.

Also this week, Rovner interviews KHN’s Michelle Andrews, who reported and wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” episode about a too-common problem: denial of no-cost preventive care for a colonoscopy under the ACA.

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: NPR Throughline’s “Before Roe: The Physicians’ Crusade,” by Rund Abdelfatah, Ramtin Arablouei, Julie Caine, Laine Kaplan-Levenson, Lawrence Wu, Victor Yvellez, Casey Miner, Yolanda Sangweni, Anya Steinberg, and Deborah George

Rachel Cohrs: The Wall Street Journal’s “Baby-Formula Shortage Worsened by Drop in Breast-Feeding Rates,” by Jennifer Maloney

Margot Sanger-Katz: The Washington Post’s “Opinion: Breastfeeding Isn’t ‘Free.’ Here’s What It Cost Me,” by Alyssa Rosenberg

Sandhya Raman: News from the States’ “From Skepticism to Insurance Denials, Long COVID Patients Face More Than Only Health Challenges,” by Annmarie Timmins

Click here for a transcript of the episode.

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