Congress passed a bill to fund much of the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year just hours before its March 23 deadline. But not included in that legislation is a bipartisan bill aimed at stabilizing premiums for individuals who buy their own health insurance. That proposal collapsed in partisan rancor after lawmakers were unable to resolve a fight over abortion and other issues.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration is moving forward with potentially landmark rules that could dramatically change the tobacco industry. And the spending bill loosens two decades of restrictions on the public health impact of guns.
This week’s panelists for KHN’s “What the Health?” are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times.