The Host
Julie Rovner
KFF Health News
Read Julie’s stories.
Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News’ weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?” A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book “Health Care Politics and Policy A to Z,” now in its third edition.
Supporters of abortion rights again scored big at the polls in several states’ off-year elections Nov. 7, including in some Republican-dominated states like Ohio and Kentucky. Ohio voters, who approved a measure to write the right of abortion into state constitution, won the biggest prize. This was despite the strong opposition by the governor and other elected officials.
The Senate has approved Monica Bertagnolli’s nomination to be the next director of the National Institutes of Health. This was a bipartisan vote of 62-36. Bertagnolli — previously director of the National Cancer Institute, a large NIH component — had seen her nomination held up for weeks by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) over a mostly unrelated fight with the Biden…
