POLITICO's Pulse Check

Understanding Trump's kidney plan, plus an ACA update

Episode Summary

A top physician helps explain the Trump administration's sweeping plan to change how kidney disease is treated, plus a quick look at Obamacare's latest legal peril.

Episode Notes

President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered a series of changes intended to reshape how tens of millions of Americans receive kidney care and boost the number of kidney transplants — a plan, scooped by POLITICO, that's received bipartisan praise.

Dr. Carmen Peralta, a nationally known kidney expert at UCSF and chief medical officer for Cricket Health, joins Dan Diamond to discuss the historic problems with U.S. kidney care and what Trump's plan could accomplish (starts at the 1:35 mark).

Then Dan briefly discusses the latest legal threat to Obamacare, following a contentious court hearing this week (starts at the 23:30 mark).

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

The Trump administration moved to shake up how kidney care is delivered in the United States.

A history of Medicare's unusual decision to pay for kidney failure treatment, which critics said has warped the market.

Federal judges aggressively questioned whether Obamacare can survive in a hearing this week.

Law professors Nick Bagley and Richard Primus laid out strategies for Congress to protect the ACA against the lawsuit working its way through the courts.