On this week’s episode, Dr. Rob is joined by guest co-host Dr. Chris Ford, emergency physician, host of the Pulse Check Wisconsin podcast, and member of the Committee to Protect Health Care’s Board of Directors. Together, they unpack the political and human toll of the recent government shutdown and the GOP’s new proposal to replace Affordable Care Act subsidies with cash payments. From skyrocketing premiums to families losing coverage, Rob and Chris share what they’re seeing in their ERs and why these policy fights are putting real patients at risk.
Later, Rob speaks with Annie Grayer, Senior Congressional Reporter at CNN, for a behind-the-scenes look at how the shutdown ended, what the next funding fight could bring, and how political power plays in Washington keep putting health care on the chopping block.
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Background reading:
Dr. Chris Ford’s podcast website Pulse Check WI is HERE
The Washington Post: How every House member voted on the bill to reopen the government
PBS News: What’s in the Senate shutdown deal
CNN: Inside the negotiations that produced a deal to end the shutdown
POLITICO: Democrats want to extend Obamacare credits. Republicans have other ideas.
NBC News: Republicans demand tougher abortion restrictions to extend Obamacare funds
Deseret News: Republicans eye health care reform as Democrats push to extend Obamacare subsidies
Dr. Rob’s twitter thread about why switching from enhanced ACA premium subsidies to HSAs is a terrible idea
AXIOS: Trump calls for ACA subsidies to be sent to consumers
Sen. Chris Murphy’s response to Trump is HERE
POLITICO: Obamacare could collapse under Trump’s new plan, policy experts say
The New York Times: Emboldened, Kennedy Allies Embrace a Label They Once Rejected: ‘Anti-Vax’
The Washington Post: ‘God is an anti-vaxxer’: Inside the conference celebrating RFK Jr.’s rise
Join the fight at committeetoprotect.org.
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