Trump’s Return: What Comes Next for Health Care?
Donald Trump’s return to power will usher in major changes to the country’s health policies, social safety net, and the federal agencies that oversee many of these programs. As the 47th president, Trump said he will let ally Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild on health; I’m going to let him go wild on the food; I’m going to let him go wild on medicine.” What will that wildness entail? More specific conservative proposals have called for gutting LGBTQ health programs, clamping down on reproductive care and access to abortion pills, and imposing work requirements on Medicaid recipients. In this webinar, we’ll bring together some of the nation’s most insightful health policy journalists for an informative discussion on where we go from here. What are we likely to see early on in a second Trump presidency, who will lead these efforts, and how these policy shifts impact vulnerable Americans? Join us for timely insights that can guide your coverage as we look ahead from this tumultuous moment in American politics.
This webinar is free and made possible by the Commonwealth Fund and The California Endowment.
Panelists
Dan Diamond is a national health reporter for The Washington Post, focused on accountability, federal agencies and public health. He joined The Post in 2021 after covering the Trump administration for Politico, where he won a George Polk award for investigating political interference in the pandemic response. His investigations into a range of topics, including Trump officials' use of taxpayer-funded charter jets, not-for-profit hospitals' spending and how Congress stripped Pacific Islanders of their health coverage, a project he completed as a Center for Health Journalism 2020 National Fellow, have also been honored with several journalism awards.
Joanne Kenen is the Journalist in Residence at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She writes about a broad ranges of public health and health care topics, and is a contributing editor to Politico Magazine, Politico “Nightly” and a regular panelist on KFF Health News’ “What the Health” podcast. She also writes for KFF Health News and other outlets. At Hopkins, she has co-taught with Dr. Josh Sharfstein a course on how the political and economic changes in U.S. media affect our health; their book on the topic is due out in 2025. Kenen was at POLITICO for 10 years, overseeing its health coverage from the implementation of the Affordable Care Act to the coronavirus pandemic. She covered health for Reuters on Capitol Hill for more than a decade, as well as two national presidential campaigns and spent two years working on health policy at the nonpartisan New America Foundation. A graduate of Harvard, she has been an Inter-American Press Association Fellow, a Kaiser Family Foundation Media Fellow, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Visiting Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow.
Sarah Owermohle is a Washington correspondent at STAT, reporting on the Biden administration’s health goals, federal health policy and politics. She previously covered health policy and the drug industry for Politico and S&P Global Market Intelligence. Before returning to her home state of Virginia, Sarah spent five years in Dubai and Beirut reporting on business, finance, and development in the Middle East and Africa, including a three-year stint as the editor of Banker Africa. She graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Suggested reading
“Trump allies eye overhauling Medicaid, food stamps in tax legislation,” by Jacob Bogage, Jeff Stein and Dan Diamond, The Washington Post
“Trump picks Dr. Oz to lead Medicare and Medicaid,” by Rachel Cohrs Zhang and Sarah Owermohle, STAT
“What to know about RFK Jr.’s views on food, vaccines, abortion, and the FDA,” by Sarah Owermohle, Usha Lee McFarling, Anil Oza, and Lev Facher, STAT
“How much influence could RFK Jr. have over vaccines in Trump’s government?” By Dan Diamond, Lauren Weber, Lena H. Sun and Rachel Roubein, The Washington Post
“Kennedy’s F.D.A. Wish List: Raw Milk, Stem Cells, Heavy Metals,” by Christina Jewett, The New York Times
“Donald Trump returns to the presidency with big ambitions to shake up health care,” by Sarah Owermohle, STAT
“The post-Roe effort to protect abortion rights hits its limit, for now,” by Sarah Owermohle, STAT