Podcast: ‘What the Health?’ health plans busting out all over

Sep 13 2017

In a busy health week for Congress, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee agreed on a proposal to fund the Children's Health Insurance Program for five more years, while Republicans and Democrats at the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee continued to pursue a joint plan to stabilize the individual health insurance market.

Meanwhile, a growing group of Democrats, led by liberal standard-bearer Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), unveiled a "Medicare for All" single-payer health care bill. But the apparent groundswell of support could overstate what might happen when details come out and people see who wins and loses. And Republicans continue to pursue one last-ditch effort to pass a bill to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act in the Senate under rules that let the bill pass with a simple majority.

In this week's episode of "What the Health?" Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal discuss all these issues. Plus, for "extra credit," the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Julie Rovner: The New York Times’ "How Single-Payer Health Care Could Trip Up Democrats," by Margot Sanger-Katz.

Joanne Kenen: Reuters’ "Doctors who take pharmaceutical money use Twitter to hype drugs," by Ronnie Cohen.

Margot Sanger-Katz: Vox’s "Once Obamacare repeal is dead, the GOP has no Plan B," by Dylan Scott.

Stephanie Armour: Vox’s "Single-payer isn't the only progressive option on health care," by Ron Pollack.

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