Can鈥檛 see the audio player? . You can also listen on , , , or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Predictions of a 鈥渉ot vax summer鈥� that would let Americans who had their covid immunizations celebrate the waning of the pandemic are turning out to have been premature. Covid-19鈥檚 delta variant is driving up cases in all 50 states, prompting new recommendations for masks and a growing number of vaccine requirements, including one for most federal workers.
Meanwhile, official Washington celebrated the anniversary of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, which sought to guarantee an array of protections, as concerns grow that people with covid aftereffects could dramatically expand the population needing those protections.
This week鈥檚 panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Mary Ellen McIntire of CQ Roll Call, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Rachana Pradhan of KHN.
Among the takeaways from this week鈥檚 episode:
- The new CDC recommendation for vaccinated people in areas with high covid transmission rates to wear face masks inside has brought complaints from conservative groups about mixed messaging and overzealous regulators. Public health officials counter that the change in advice is understandable because the virus is evolving.
- The covid surge is most pronounced in areas where vaccination rates were low and may suggest a failure of the public health message that the vaccines are protective only if enough people get vaccinated.
- The federal effort to vaccinate the public is slowly gaining important support from conservatives. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is financing public service ads in his home state of Kentucky, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as one of former President Donald Trump鈥檚 press secretaries and is now running for governor of Arkansas, wrote an op-ed about the value of the vaccine.
- President Joe Biden has appeared reluctant to endorse vaccine mandates, partly because Republicans have been so adamant about opposing them. Even his expected announcement calling for federal workers to get a shot will have an option to undergo regular testing instead.
- Employers, however, are growing impatient and many are mandating that workers be inoculated for covid. It had been assumed that they would wait for the Food and Drug Administration to give final approval to the vaccines, but that is taking longer than many businesses want.
- The Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the state must expand Medicaid, something a majority of voters endorsed last year. The Republican-led legislature refused to fund the expansion and the governor had said he would not expand the program until the legislature funds it.
- Mississippi officials have filed their brief with the Supreme Court seeking support of a state-passed abortion ban, while House Democrats passed spending bills that get rid of long-standing rules prohibiting the use of federal funds for the procedure. Both sides of the debate seem poised to energize voters.
Also this week, Rovner interviews Samantha Young, who reported the latest KHN-NPR 鈥�Bill of the Month鈥� feature about an Olympic cycling hopeful with an Olympic-size medical bill following a bike accident. If you have an outrageous medical bill you鈥檇 like to send us, you can do that here.
Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read too:
Julie Rovner: HBO鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Brett Rapkin, Michael Phelps, Peter Carlisle and Michael O鈥橦ara Lynch
Mary Ellen McIntire: The AP鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Jenna Fryer
Anna Edney: The New York Times鈥� 鈥�,鈥� by Clay Risen
Rachana Pradhan: The Tennessean鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Brett Kelman
To hear all our podcasts,聽click here.
And subscribe to KHN鈥檚 What the Health? on , , , or wherever you listen to podcasts.