Early Voting Begins

As early voting begins in some states, the Trump administration is working to keep its crackdown on healthcare fraud, waste, and abuse in the headlines. Also, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has unveiled a new initiative to identify vaccine injuries, complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the National Institutes of Health. 

Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law, and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Sun join KFF Health News’ Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these stories and more. 

Also this week, KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner talks with Dan Weissmann, host of the healthcare podcast “An Arm and a Leg,” about the new and even more confusing landscape for Medicare enrollees as open enrollment begins.  

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too:  

Mary Agnes Carey: KFF Health News’ “People Say These Peptides Hurt Them. Their Stories Are Muffled in MAHA’s Push for Medical Freedom,” by Amy Maxmen. 

Sandhya Raman: Stat’s “Helen Branswell, Whose Reporting on Infectious Diseases and Public Health Drew Acclaim, Dies at 69,” by Andrew Joseph. 

Paige Winfield Cunningham: KFF Health News’ “AI, Tech Leaders Are Lobbying Trump Health Officials in a Government-Run Chat Room,” by Amanda Seitz, Maia Rosenfeld, and Darius Tahir. 

Joanne Kenen: On CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan’s interview with Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer at Palantir. (Read the transcript here.)