The twists and turns continue at the nation’s health agency, where this week’s announcements included notice that the Food and Drug Administration will review Moderna’s new flu vaccine after all and that a handful of top agency officials are getting new jobs.

Those developments and others can be traced to a White House looking to shake things up before the midterms — and win over voters on health care. Tami Luhby of CNN, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these stories and more.

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too:

Mary Agnes Carey: Politico’s “Why Congress Failed To Reach an Obamacare Deal,” by Robert King and Simon J. Levien.

Lauren Weber: NiemanLab’s “The Atlantic’s Elizabeth Bruenig on Her ‘Hypothetical,’ Heavily Reported Measles Essay,” by Laura Hazard Owen.

Tami Luhby: The City’s “NewYork-Presbyterian Nurses Reject Contract by Overwhelming Margin,” by Claudia Irizarry Aponte and Ben Fractenberg.

Shefali Luthra: NPR’s “Minneapolis Doctors Warn of Lasting Medical Effects, Even After ICE Agents Leave,” by Jasmine Garsd.

It’s been a busy week at the Food and Drug Administration, with a political appointee overruling agency scientists to reject an application for a new flu vaccine, a decision that’s reverberating through the drug industry.

Meanwhile, anti-abortion Republicans on Capitol Hill complain the agency is dragging its feet on reviewing the abortion pill mifepristone. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Jackie Fortiér of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner.

Visit our website for a transcript of the episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: ProPublica’s “The Children of Dilley,” by Mica Rosenberg.

Alice Miranda Ollstein: Politico’s “Why Washington’s All-In on Smart Rings,” by Amanda Chu.

Lizzy Lawrence: KFF Health News’ “US Cancer Institute Studying Ivermectin’s ‘Ability To Kill Cancer Cells,’” by Rachana Pradhan.

Jackie Fortiér: Stat’s “The New Childhood Vaccine Guidelines Have a Paid Leave Problem,” by Ariana Hendrix.

Congress has passed — and President Donald Trump has signed — the annual spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services. But it’s unclear whether the administration will spend the money as Congress directed.

In 2025, billions of dollars were stalled, disrupting patient care and scientific research, until federal judges ordered funding resumed.

Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.

Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Renuka Rayasam about a new reporting project, “Priced Out.”

Visit our website for a transcript of this episode.

Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: Politico’s “DeSantis’ Canadian Drug Import Plan in Florida Goes From Campaign Trail to Tough Realities,” by Arek Sarkissian.

Sandhya Raman: The Washington Post’s “Free HIV Drugs Save Lives. Why One State Is Restricting Access for Thousands,” by David Ovalle.

Anna Edney: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Associated Press’s “Forever Stained: Inside America’s Carpet Capital: An Empire and its Toxic Legacy,” by Dylan Jackson, Jason Dearan, and Justin Price.

Joanne Kenen: Inside Climate News’ “‘Toxic Colonialism’ on the Bay of Bengal,” by Johnny Sturgeon.