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What the Health? From 51��Ƶ Health News

Trump Almost Unveils a Health Plan

Episode 424

Nov. 25, 2025

Just weeks before some tax credits for Affordable Care Act premiums expire, the Trump administration floated a plan to extend the enhanced aid — but it was met with immediate GOP pushback. Meanwhile, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to revise its website to suggest childhood vaccines might be linked to autism. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join 51��Ƶ Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Joanne Kenen and Joshua Sharfstein about their new book, “Information Sick: How Journalism’s Decline and Misinformation’s Rise Are Harming Our Health — And What We Can Do About It.”
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More People Are Caring for Dying Loved Ones at Home. A New Orleans Nonprofit Is Showing Them How.

Demand for home health care, including at-home hospice care, has skyrocketed since the onset of the covid pandemic. A New Orleans nonprofit is teaching people how to provide end-of-life care for relatives and community members.

By Halle Parker, Verite News

Nov. 25, 2025
Bill of the Month

Not Serious Enough To Turn on the Siren, Toddler’s 39-Mile Ambulance Ride Still Cost Over $9,000

After her son contracted a serious bacterial infection, an Ohio mother took the toddler to a nearby ER, and staffers there sent him to a children’s hospital in an ambulance. With no insurance, the family was hit with a $9,250 bill for the 40-minute ride.

By Tony Leys

Nov. 25, 2025
Kids and Teens Go Full Throttle for E-Bikes as Federal Oversight Stalls

States, counties, and schools step in to improve safety amid an uptick in e-bike injuries, while federal regulatory efforts stagnate.

By Kate Ruder

Nov. 24, 2025
Kennedy Sharpens Vaccine Attacks, Without Scientific Backing

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claims that the aluminum ingredients in vaccines cause a variety of harmful reactions, from allergies to autism. Scientists say that’s wrong and warn of risks if they’re removed. Here are some of the basics.

By Céline Gounder

Nov. 24, 2025
The Week in Brief

The Covid Contrarian Clubhouse Makes Its Mark on Trump’s Washington

Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.

By Rachana Pradhan

Nov. 21, 2025
What To Know About the CDC’s Baseless New Guidance on Autism

A reshaped CDC website suggesting that vaccines cause autism has appalled the medical community.

By Arthur Allen

Nov. 21, 2025
Deadly Denials

After Series of Denials, His Insurer Approved Doctor-Recommended Cancer Care. It Was Too Late.

Eric Tennant’s doctors recommended histotripsy, which would target, and potentially destroy, a cancerous tumor in his liver. But by the time his insurer approved the treatment, Tennant was no longer considered a good candidate. He died in September.

By Lauren Sausser

Nov. 21, 2025
Cancer Stole Her Voice. She Used AI, Curse Words, and Kids’ Books To Get It Back.

After a total glossectomy and laryngectomy to treat her cancer, Sonya Sotinsky can no longer speak. She searched for a way to sound like herself again and now pays out-of-pocket for an artificial intelligence app that can replicate her old voice — emotion, inflection, and all.

By April Dembosky, KQED

Nov. 21, 2025
US Cancer Registries, Constrained by Trump Policies, To Recognize Only ‘Male’ or ‘Female’ Patients

Under Trump policies, cancer registries in 2026 will have to classify sex data strictly as male, female, or unknown, a change scientists and advocates say will harm the health of one of the nation’s most marginalized populations.

By Rachana Pradhan

Nov. 21, 2025
What the Health? From 51��Ƶ Health News

The GOP Circles the Wagons on ACA

Episode 423

Nov. 20, 2025

Republicans are solidifying their opposition to extending pandemic-era subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans and seem to be coalescing around giving money directly to consumers to spend on health care. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to leave his mark on the agency, with the CDC altering its website to suggest childhood vaccines could play a role in causing autism. Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Shefali Luthra of The 19th join 51��Ƶ Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Avik Roy.
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Complaints About Gaps in Medicare Advantage Networks Are Common. Federal Enforcement Is Rare.

Health systems drop out of Medicare Advantage plans all the time. Yet government documents obtained by 51��Ƶ Health News show that federal regulators rarely warn plans that their networks of health providers are so skimpy they violate legal requirements.

By Susan Jaffe

Nov. 20, 2025
Waning Immunity and Falling Vaccination Rates Fuel Pertussis Outbreaks

New details from health officials suggest the whooping-cough surge may be part of a national pattern driven by slipping vaccine coverage and waning immunity, with infants bearing the brunt of the consequences.

By Céline Gounder

Nov. 20, 2025
Help Us Investigate Medical Care for Gunshot Wounds

We’d like to talk to people who’ve been wounded or families of those killed by gun violence to better understand how insurance affects such medical care.

Nov. 19, 2025
A Small Texas Think Tank Cultivated Covid Dissidents. Now They’re Running US Health Policy.

Fueled by covid backlash, a libertarian author created the Brownstone Institute in 2021. In recent months, people with ties to the group have catapulted to the highest levels of U.S. government, exercising significant authority over access to vaccines and scientific research.

By Rachana Pradhan

Nov. 19, 2025
A Hidden Health Crisis Following Natural Disasters: Mold Growth in Homes

As extreme weather wreaks havoc, the risk of dangerous mold looms. An estimated 47% of homes already have mold or dampness, leaving their residents exposed to mold spores and associated allergens that can cause respiratory problems.

By Jonathan R.M. Charles

Nov. 19, 2025
Deadly Denials

Ticked Off Over Preauthorization: Walk-In Patient Avoided Lyme Disease but Not a Surprise Bill

A Maine woman sought care at a clinic for a tick bite, then paid full price after her insurer denied coverage. Its reason? She didn’t have preapproval for the walk-in visit, even though testing later detected the pathogen that causes Lyme disease.

By Lauren Sausser

Nov. 18, 2025
Breast Cancer and Birth Control: A Huge New Study Shows How Science Can Be Distorted

The study sought to answer questions about how breast cancer risk differs by type of hormonal contraceptive. Doctors say the results won’t change how they counsel patients.

By Céline Gounder

Nov. 18, 2025
Once a Patient’s in Custody, ICE Can Be at Hospital Bedsides — But Detainees Have Rights

Federal law allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to guard detainees at health care facilities, but patients can ask to speak privately with medical providers and lawyers.

By Claudia Boyd-Barrett

Nov. 17, 2025
FDA’s Plan To Boost Biosimilar Drugs Could Stall at the Patent Office

Drug industry officials and analysts praised the FDA’s plans to streamline regulation of “biosimilars,” which are cheaper alternatives to biologic drugs. But patents that block such drugs from the U.S. market are getting harder to fight.

By Arthur Allen

Nov. 17, 2025

Morning Briefing

Friday, Oct. 2, 2026 • 9:10 a.m. ET

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Noticias en español

EE.UU. se prepara para expulsar de Medicaid a inmigrantes con estatus legal, incluidos refugiados y víctimas de trata sexual

By Phil Galewitz, Andrew Jones, and Claudia Boyd-Barrett

Sept. 30, 2026
Esperó horas en una sala de emergencias y se fue sin que la atendieran. Aun así, le cobraron

By Michelle Andrews

Sept. 29, 2026
La seguridad alimentaria se gana su lugar en la batalla electoral

By Stephanie Armour

Sept. 28, 2026
El aborto vuelve a las urnas mientras cambian políticas después de la era Roe vs. Wade

By Bram Sable-Smith and Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez

Sept. 28, 2026
Incertidumbre política y recortes amenazan entrega de comidas de Medicaid que ayudan con la salud y el presupuesto

By Priyanka Dayal McCluskey, WBUR

Sept. 22, 2026