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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The ACA is again being put to the test, after a lower court judge ruled the massive health law unconstitutional. The case might yet ricochet back to the Supreme Court ahead of the 2020 election.
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After decades on the sidelines, the medical trade group is taking a more aggressive stance by fighting two North Dakota laws it says interfere with the doctor-patient relationship.
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A bipartisan group of senators has been working on a plan to protect patients from unexpected medical bills. Disagreements within the health care industry could thwart those efforts.
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In 1991, the Supreme Court upheld restrictions on family planning providers that are similar to rules proposed by the Trump Administration. But Trump critics say the legal landscape has changed.
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During the 1980s and early 1990s, Rep. John Dingell was instrumental in expanding the Medicaid program, reshaping Medicare and modernizing the Food and Drug Administration. He died Thursday night.
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The president's State of the Union address laid out a series of goals, including lowering prescription prices, pursuing an end to the HIV epidemic and increasing research for childhood cancers.
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Members of the new Democratic majority in the House vow to reverse restrictions that Republicans have imposed on abortions. But the efforts could lead to titanic fights that imperil other legislation.
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Expect more aggressive regulatory action from the Trump administration while skirmishes continue in Congress and statehouses across the U.S. Many of these policies will ultimately land in court.
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If the decision of a judge in Texas to invalidate the federal health law holds up, expect broad effects on your health care — from insurance coverage to Medicare payments to pre-existing conditions.
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A ruling that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional is likely to go to the Supreme Court. For now, the decision likely won't affect people who buy insurance on marketplaces created by the law.