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.
Federal officials have instructed at least 30 states to reinstate Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage for half a million people, including children, after an errant computer program wrongly determined they were no longer eligible. It’s just the latest hiccup in the yearlong effort to redetermine the eligibility of beneficiaries now that the program’s pandemic-era expansion has expired.
A small group of House Republicans is preventing even a short term spending measure, which would have kept the lights on from Oct. 1, as they refuse to accept any kind of temporary funding. Most of the largest federal health programs, including Medicare, have other sources of funding and would not be dramatically impacted — at least at first. Nearly half of all…
