# The Politics of Health at Midyear

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-health-from-kff-health-news-628413/the-politics-of-health-at-midyear
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-health-from-kff-health-news-628413/the-politics-of-health-at-midyear.md
Podcast: [What the Health? From KFF Health News](https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-health-from-kff-health-news-628413)
Published: 2026-07-09T17:32:00+00:00
Episode link: https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_14448_2a5bd6d4-e824-497a-ae05-cdcd43188ab4&uf=https%3A%2F%2Fwhatthehealth.feeds.wamu.org
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/dovetail.prxu.org/14448/2a5bd6d4-e824-497a-ae05-cdcd43188ab4/Ep_454_01.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-the-health-from-kff-health-news-628413/episodes/the-politics-of-health-at-midyear
Duration seconds: 2457

## Resource

About halfway through 2026 — and just a few months before the critical midterm elections — Democrats appear to be doubling down on healthcare as a campaign issue as costs rise and insurance coverage declines. Meanwhile, Congress is taking aim at nonprofit hospitals. Shefali Luthra of The 19th, Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post, and Victoria Knight of Bloomberg Government join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Samantha Liss, who wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” story, about a woman who changed Medicare Advantage plans and found herself at a disadvantage. 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: Axios’ “ Chinese Fentanyl Makers Find New U.S. Market in Peptides ,” by Tina Reed. Shefali Luthra: Stat’s “ Online GLP-1 Prescriptions Are Often Fast, Easy — And Low on Clinical Oversight ,” by Katie Palmer. Rachel Roubein: The New York Times’ “ Efforts To Help Smokers Quit Stall Under Trump ,” by Chistina Jewett. Victoria Knight: Stat’s “ Booze Schmooze: The Alcohol Industry, Frazzled by Headwinds, Wields Its Power Behind the Scenes ,” by Isabella Cueto and Lev Facher.

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-the-health-from-kff-health-news-628413/episodes/the-politics-of-health-at-midyear/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-the-health-from-kff-health-news-628413/the-politics-of-health-at-midyear.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.