Three of the top officials of the Department of Health and Human Services 鈥� Secretary Alex Azar, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma 鈥� were out in force this week. All made major public appearances in an effort to reset the department鈥檚 agenda. In the wake of the failed congressional effort to 鈥渞epeal and replace鈥� the federal Affordable Care Act, the administration officials said they plan to focus on lowering the costs of health care and giving states and consumers more power.
On Capitol Hill, Congress is nearing the next deadline to finish legislation aimed at keeping the government running. But disputes remain over funding for health programs and over separate legislation that could be added to the 鈥渕ust-pass bill鈥� aimed at stabilizing the individual insurance market.
This week鈥檚 panelists for KHN鈥檚 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥� are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Joanne Kenen of Politico.
Among the takeaways from this week鈥檚 podcast:
- As Congress looks at a federal reinsurance program to help stabilize the individual insurance market, there鈥檚 an interesting irony: The effort would require new funding that Republicans are hesitant to commit to the Affordable Care Act鈥檚 marketplaces, but at the same time the program would be much like the high-risk pools that the GOP has been touting.
- It鈥檚 not yet clear if the recent round of high-level public outreach from HHS signifies a change in the administration鈥檚 health policies, but the strategy is very different than that under former chief Tom Price.
- The latest big-name consolidation in health care 鈥� Cigna鈥檚 announcement that it is buying Express Scripts 鈥� also suggests that insurers are looking to reduce costs by getting rid of the drug industry middlemen.
- Arkansas received approval this week to implement work requirements for some people receiving Medicaid benefits. It鈥檚 the latest sign that this is a policy priority for the administration.
Plus, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥� the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Julie Rovner: NPR鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Jenny Gold of Kaiser Health News.
Joanne Kenen: The New York Times鈥� 鈥�,鈥� by Benjamin Weiser.
Margot Sanger-Katz: Vox.com鈥檚 鈥�,鈥欌�� by Ella Nilsen.
Anna Edney: The New York Times鈥� 鈥�,鈥� by Katie Thomas and Charles Ornstein.
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