Julie Rovner
Julie Rovner is a health policy correspondent for NPR specializing in the politics of health care.Reporting on all aspects of health policy and politics, Rovner covers the White House, Capitol Hill, the Department of Health and Human Services in addition to issues around the country. She served as NPR's lead correspondent covering the passage and implementation of the 2010 health overhaul bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Additionally, Rovner is a contributing editor for National Journal Daily, a publication covering Capitol Hill.
A noted expert on health policy issues, Rovner is the author of a critically-praised reference book Health Care Politics and Policy A-Z. Rovner is also co-author of the book Managed Care Strategies 1997, and has contributed to several other books, including two chapters in Intensive Care: How Congress Shapes Health Policy, edited by political scientists Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann.
In 2005, Rovner was awarded the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for distinguished reporting of Congress for her coverage of the passage of the Medicare prescription drug law and its aftermath.
Rovner has appeared on television on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNN, C-Span, MSNBC, and NOW with Bill Moyers. Her articles have appeared in dozens of national newspapers and magazines, including The Washington Post, USA Today, Modern Maturity, and The Saturday Evening Post.
Prior to NPR, Rovner covered health and human services for the Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, specializing in health care financing, abortion, welfare, and disability issues. Later she covered health reform for the Medical News Network, an interactive daily television news service for physicians, and provided analysis and commentary on the health reform debates in Congress for NPR. She has been a regular contributor to the British medical journal The Lancet. Her columns on patients' rights for the magazine Business and Health won her a share of the 1999 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award.
An honors graduate, Rovner has a degree in political science from University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
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As a candidate, Kamala Harris likely would take an aggressive stance in support of abortion access — hitting former President Donald Trump on an issue where Republicans have been vulnerable. -
Torn between a base that wants more restrictions on abortion and a moderate majority that does not, it seems many Republicans would rather avoid the topic. But they can’t escape talking about it. -
A new analysis shows that students graduating from U.S. medical schools this year were less likely to apply for residencies across specialties in states with restrictions on abortion. -
The former president is reviving campaign promises to undo Obamacare, an idea that fizzled during his first time in office. Based on his record, here's what else he might do in health policy. -
Medicare and Medicaid are mandatory spending programs and that keeps them relatively safe in the early days of the shutdown, but 42% of the Department of Health's staff will be furloughed. -
Even the Trump-era surgeon general is concerned about the repercussions for women's health, as doctors say they are reluctant to practice in states that have banned abortion. -
Politicians are again pointing fingers over cutting Medicare. Any party accused of threatening the program tends to lose elections, but without a bipartisan agreement, seniors stand to lose the most. -
Common misperceptions are that only abortion-seekers are affected, that Democratics could have codified protections before, and that Congress can easily get rid of federal laws restricting abortion. -
Some conservative states pressing for abortion bans with no exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother. But public opinion polls suggest those limits could cause blowback. -
The man who forged successful alliances with Democratic health giants, such as Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Waxman, fell back on his deep conservative roots as opposition grew to the Affordable Care Act.
