\n\t\tThe Host\t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t![]()
\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nPresident Donald Trump this week nominated a former deputy surgeon general who has expressed support for vaccines to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Considered a more traditional fit for the job, Erica Schwartz would be the agency\u2019s fourth leader in roughly a year, should she be confirmed by the Senate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared on Capitol Hill this week in the first of several hearings discussing Trump\u2019s budget request for the department. But the topics up for discussion deviated quite a bit from the subject of federal funding, with lawmakers raising issues of Medicaid fraud, measles outbreaks, the hepatitis B vaccine, peptides, unaccompanied minors, and much, much more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s panelists are Mary Agnes Carey of KFF Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Emmarie Huetteman of KFF Health News, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine.<\/p>\n
Among the takeaways from this week\u2019s episode:<\/p>\n
\n- Trump on Thursday named four officials to the CDC\u2019s leadership team. Schwartz, whom he picked as director, is a physician and Navy officer who served as a deputy surgeon general during Trump\u2019s first term. She has voiced support for vaccines and played a key role in the covid-19 pandemic response.<\/li>\n
- RFK Jr. testified before three committees of the House of Representatives this week on the president\u2019s budget request for HHS. While the hearings touched on a wide variety of topics, notable moments included a slight softening of Kennedy\u2019s stance on the measles vaccine, including the acknowledgment that being immunized is safer than having measles \u2014 although he also stood by the decision to remove the recommendation for the newborn dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.<\/li>\n
- New studies on the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy and the effects of water fluoridation on cognitive function refute Trump administration claims. And a White House meeting that brought together Trump, Kennedy, and other leaders of the Make America Healthy Again movement aimed to soothe concerns among supporters \u2014 yet there\u2019s reason to believe the overture won\u2019t completely mend fences between the Trump administration and the MAHA constituency ahead of the midterm elections.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Also this week, KFF Health News\u2019 Julie Rovner interviews Michelle Canero, an immigration attorney, about how the Trump administration\u2019s policies affect the medical workforce.<\/p>\n
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\n\t<\/h4>\nPlus, for \u201cextra credit,\u201d the panelists suggest health policy stories they read (or wrote) this week that they think you should read, too:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u202fMary Agnes Carey:<\/strong> Politico\u2019s \u201c\u2018A Crisis in the Making\u2019: Nebraska Races To Impose Work Requirements on Medicaid<\/a>,\u201d by Alice Miranda Ollstein.<\/p>\nJoanne Kenen:<\/strong> The New York Times\u2019 \u201cHe Warned About the Dangers of A.I. If Only His Father Had Listened<\/a>,\u201d by Teddy Rosenbluth.<\/p>\nAnna Edney:<\/strong> Bloomberg\u2019s \u201cHormone Drugs Make $6.3 Billion Comeback After FDA Nixes Safety Warnings<\/a>,\u201d by Anna Edney.<\/p>\nEmmarie Huetteman:<\/strong> KFF Health News\u2019 \u201cYour New Therapist: Chatty, Leaky, and Hardly Human<\/a>,\u201d by Darius Tahir.<\/p>\nAlso mentioned in this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n
\n- JAMA Pediatrics\u2019 \u201cAcetaminophen Exposure During Pregnancy and the Risk of Autism in Offspring<\/a>,\u201d by Kira Philipsen Prahm, Pingnan Chen, Line Rode, et al.<\/li>\n
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u2019 \u201cMunicipal Water Fluoridation, Adolescent IQ, and Cognition Across the Life Course: Evidence From the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study<\/a>,\u201d by John Robert Warren, Gina Rumore, Kamil Sicinski, and Michal Engelman.<\/li>\n
- KFF Health News\u2019 \u201cPennsylvania Town Faces Fallout From Trump\u2019s Environmental Rule Rollback<\/a>,\u201d by Stephanie Armour and Maia Rosenfeld.<\/li>\n
- The New York Times\u2019 \u201cIn Private Meeting, Trump Soothes Disenchanted MAHA Leaders<\/a>,\u201d by Sheryl Gay Stolberg.<\/li>\n
- Wakely Consulting Group\u2019s \u201cWho Paid, and Who Stayed? Early 2026 Enrollment Trends in the Individual Market<\/a>,\u201d by Michelle Anderson, Chia Yi Chin, and Michael Cohen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nClick here to find all our podcasts.<\/u><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nAnd subscribe to \u201cWhat the Health? From KFF Health News\u201d on Apple Podcasts<\/u><\/a>, Spotify<\/u><\/a>, the NPR app<\/u><\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, Pocket Casts<\/u><\/a>, or wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/em><\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/07\/Carey-Mary-Agnes2022_1100sq.jpg)
\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nPresident Donald Trump this week nominated a former deputy surgeon general who has expressed support for vaccines to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Considered a more traditional fit for the job, Erica Schwartz would be the agency\u2019s fourth leader in roughly a year, should she be confirmed by the Senate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared on Capitol Hill this week in the first of several hearings discussing Trump\u2019s budget request for the department. But the topics up for discussion deviated quite a bit from the subject of federal funding, with lawmakers raising issues of Medicaid fraud, measles outbreaks, the hepatitis B vaccine, peptides, unaccompanied minors, and much, much more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s panelists are Mary Agnes Carey of KFF Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Emmarie Huetteman of KFF Health News, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine.<\/p>\n
Among the takeaways from this week\u2019s episode:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Trump on Thursday named four officials to the CDC\u2019s leadership team. Schwartz, whom he picked as director, is a physician and Navy officer who served as a deputy surgeon general during Trump\u2019s first term. She has voiced support for vaccines and played a key role in the covid-19 pandemic response.<\/li>\n
- RFK Jr. testified before three committees of the House of Representatives this week on the president\u2019s budget request for HHS. While the hearings touched on a wide variety of topics, notable moments included a slight softening of Kennedy\u2019s stance on the measles vaccine, including the acknowledgment that being immunized is safer than having measles \u2014 although he also stood by the decision to remove the recommendation for the newborn dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.<\/li>\n
- New studies on the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy and the effects of water fluoridation on cognitive function refute Trump administration claims. And a White House meeting that brought together Trump, Kennedy, and other leaders of the Make America Healthy Again movement aimed to soothe concerns among supporters \u2014 yet there\u2019s reason to believe the overture won\u2019t completely mend fences between the Trump administration and the MAHA constituency ahead of the midterm elections.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Also this week, KFF Health News\u2019 Julie Rovner interviews Michelle Canero, an immigration attorney, about how the Trump administration\u2019s policies affect the medical workforce.<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tEmail Sign-Up\t\t<\/a>
\n\t<\/h4>\nPlus, for \u201cextra credit,\u201d the panelists suggest health policy stories they read (or wrote) this week that they think you should read, too:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u202fMary Agnes Carey:<\/strong> Politico\u2019s \u201c\u2018A Crisis in the Making\u2019: Nebraska Races To Impose Work Requirements on Medicaid<\/a>,\u201d by Alice Miranda Ollstein.<\/p>\n
Joanne Kenen:<\/strong> The New York Times\u2019 \u201cHe Warned About the Dangers of A.I. If Only His Father Had Listened<\/a>,\u201d by Teddy Rosenbluth.<\/p>\n
Anna Edney:<\/strong> Bloomberg\u2019s \u201cHormone Drugs Make $6.3 Billion Comeback After FDA Nixes Safety Warnings<\/a>,\u201d by Anna Edney.<\/p>\n
Emmarie Huetteman:<\/strong> KFF Health News\u2019 \u201cYour New Therapist: Chatty, Leaky, and Hardly Human<\/a>,\u201d by Darius Tahir.<\/p>\n
Also mentioned in this week\u2019s podcast:<\/p>\n
- \n
- JAMA Pediatrics\u2019 \u201cAcetaminophen Exposure During Pregnancy and the Risk of Autism in Offspring<\/a>,\u201d by Kira Philipsen Prahm, Pingnan Chen, Line Rode, et al.<\/li>\n
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u2019 \u201cMunicipal Water Fluoridation, Adolescent IQ, and Cognition Across the Life Course: Evidence From the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study<\/a>,\u201d by John Robert Warren, Gina Rumore, Kamil Sicinski, and Michal Engelman.<\/li>\n
- KFF Health News\u2019 \u201cPennsylvania Town Faces Fallout From Trump\u2019s Environmental Rule Rollback<\/a>,\u201d by Stephanie Armour and Maia Rosenfeld.<\/li>\n
- The New York Times\u2019 \u201cIn Private Meeting, Trump Soothes Disenchanted MAHA Leaders<\/a>,\u201d by Sheryl Gay Stolberg.<\/li>\n
- Wakely Consulting Group\u2019s \u201cWho Paid, and Who Stayed? Early 2026 Enrollment Trends in the Individual Market<\/a>,\u201d by Michelle Anderson, Chia Yi Chin, and Michael Cohen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nClick here to find all our podcasts.<\/u><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
And subscribe to \u201cWhat the Health? From KFF Health News\u201d on Apple Podcasts<\/u><\/a>, Spotify<\/u><\/a>, the NPR app<\/u><\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, Pocket Casts<\/u><\/a>, or wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/em><\/p>\n
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u2019 \u201cMunicipal Water Fluoridation, Adolescent IQ, and Cognition Across the Life Course: Evidence From the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study<\/a>,\u201d by John Robert Warren, Gina Rumore, Kamil Sicinski, and Michal Engelman.<\/li>\n
- JAMA Pediatrics\u2019 \u201cAcetaminophen Exposure During Pregnancy and the Risk of Autism in Offspring<\/a>,\u201d by Kira Philipsen Prahm, Pingnan Chen, Line Rode, et al.<\/li>\n