Healthcare a Vague but Potent Issue for Election 2026

Healthcare in general, and health costs in particular, are a top issue for voters in 2026. But it remains unclear exactly how voters want lawmakers to fix the problem. As a result, candidates in both parties are offering a wide variety of possible solutions. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration doubled down on its fraud-fighting efforts, announcing that it is cutting off more than 750,000 enrollees in Affordable Care Act insurance plans who it alleges are defrauding the program. 

Tami Luhby of CNN, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Sarah Jane Tribble of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. 

Visit our website to read a transcript of this episode.

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

Julie Rovner: KFF Health News’ “The Drugs and Devices Have Been on the Market for Years. But FDA-Ordered Studies Still Aren’t Done,” by David Hilzenrath. 

Tami Luhby: The Wall Street Journal’s “RFK Jr.’s Enhanced Security Was Funded With Money From Minority Health Office,” by Liz Essley Whyte. 

Joanne Kenen: Slate’s “The Mystery of ‘Medbeds’,” by Molly Olmstead. 

Sarah Jane Tribble: Stat’s “GOP Aims To Change Medicare Adviser’s Math So It’s More Favorable to Health Insurers,” by John Wilkerson.