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Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ Why Is It So Difficult To Control Drug Prices?

Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News discuss the recent extension of cost-sharing subsidies for millions of low-income beneficiaries on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces — as well as the state of play on Capitol Hill and in the states concerning efforts to lower prescription drug costs.

Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Mary Agnes Carey: Kaiser Health News’ “End-Of-Life Advice: More Than 500,000 Chat On Medicare’s Dime,” by JoNel Aleccia.

Margot Sanger-Katz: Bloomberg’s “Failing or Doing Fine? How Obamacare’s Marketplaces Are Shaping Up for 2018,” by Hannah Recht.

Sarah Karlin-Smith: The New York Times’ “A Cancer Conundrum: Too Many Drug Trials, Too Few Patients,” by Gina Kolata.

Julie Appleby: The Wall Street Journal’s “The New Innovator’s Dilemma: When Customers Won’t Pay for Better,” by Denise Roland.

To hear all our podcasts, click here.

And subscribe to What the Health? on iTunesStitcher or Google Play.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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