Can鈥檛 see the audio player? You can also listen on , , , , or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Click here for a transcript of the episode.
The coming Congress will look different from the current one: While Democrats narrowly kept control of the U.S. Senate, Republicans gained a majority in the House. While their majority is small, it will likely be enough to block any further items on President Joe Biden鈥檚 agenda.
Meanwhile, the current, lame-duck Congress still has a lot of items on its to-do list, including keeping the government open and averting a scheduled 4% cut in payments to health providers.
This week鈥檚 panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Victoria Knight of Axios, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.
Among the takeaways from this week鈥檚 episode:
- With Democrats holding the Senate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is expected to be the next chairman of the Committee of Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. In that role he would be able to set a more progressive agenda, though he could not push changes to Medicare, which is not under the committee鈥檚 jurisdiction. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a doctor who worked on surprise billing legislation, is in line to become HELP鈥檚 top Republican.
- Republicans clinched control of the House of Representatives and have nominated Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to be speaker, though he鈥檒l have to overcome tensions over weaker-than-expected midterm results. While there are chances to demonstrate bipartisanship, like on telehealth regulation, the party will be able to push back against the Democratic-controlled Senate and White House. Watch for investigations into the Biden administration and Republican refusals to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling.
- In the states, Oregon voters approved a constitutional amendment that establishes an individual right to health care, though it doesn鈥檛 give the state the ability to spend money to ensure that right. It remains to be seen what the change means, although it possibly opens the door for residents to sue the state over health care affordability.
- A liberal group, the Fairness Project, was behind a wave of successful ballot measures last week, capitalizing on the gap between voters and Republican lawmakers on issues like abortion and Medicaid expansion. Both parties have found success in using ballot initiatives to draw voters to the polls during non-presidential election years, and this year Democratic election officials like Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan appear to have benefited from such measures.
- Congress is staring down a busy lame-duck session, with must-dos including funding the government and averting long-scheduled cuts to Medicare payments. Pandemic preparedness and maternal health legislation are also on the list of possibilities. President Biden is still pushing for more money for covid-19 relief as existing pandemic funds run out, though Republicans are unlikely to budge in their opposition.
- Codification of abortion rights looks unlikely for now. Neither party appears to have the support to pass national protections or national restrictions, though appropriations fights are expected over a few existing policies, including those affecting incarcerated women and Indigenous women. Meanwhile, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops elected two hard-line opponents this week, and the courts are scrutinizing state bans in Georgia and Kentucky, as Florida talks about increasing restrictions there.
- The Cleveland Clinic has instituted a policy of charging patients鈥� insurance $50 to answer any message sent to providers through its online portal that takes more than five minutes of their time to respond to. Insurance companies are likely to push back, but watch for the policy to spread to other providers.
- A yearlong KHN project on private equity ownership in health care wrapped this week with reporting showing private equity has poured nearly $1 trillion into 8,000 health care transactions in just the past decade. But weak reporting requirements mean the federal government is often not reviewing these transactions for potential antitrust violations.
Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too:
Julie Rovner: The Philadelphia Inquirer鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Sarah Gantz
Alice Miranda Ollstein: ProPublica鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Kavitha Surana聽
Victoria Knight: The Daily Beast鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Will Sommer
Joanne Kenen: The Pink Sheet鈥檚 鈥�鈥� by Sarah Karlin-Smith
Also mentioned in this week鈥檚 episode:
Axios鈥� 鈥�,鈥� by Sabrina Moreno
Cleveland.com鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Julie Washington
KHN鈥檚 鈥�Sick Profit: Investigating Private Equity鈥檚 Stealthy Takeover of Health Care Across Cities and Specialties鈥� by Fred Schulte
To hear all our podcasts,聽click here.
And subscribe to KHN鈥檚 What the Health? on , , , , or wherever you listen to podcasts.