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.

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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Shots - Health Blog
2:08 am
Wed July 18, 2012

Could The Health Law End Up Back In Court? Opponents Think So

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
Democratuic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, who was involved in writing the health law, rejects claims that federal health exchanges won't be able to provide tax credits.

Originally published on Wed July 18, 2012 9:53 am

If you thought last month's Supreme Court ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act was the final word on the legality of the health law, think again. Some conservative scholars believe they may have discovered a flaw that could send the law back to court, or at least cause some big problems for its implementation.

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Health Care
5:10 am
Sun July 15, 2012

What's A Governor To Do With The Health Care Law?

Originally published on Sun July 15, 2012 10:11 am

As governors from around the country meet this weekend in Williamsburg, Va., health care is near the top of their agenda. Specifically, what to do about the federal health law, now that the Supreme Court has given states new options.

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Shots - Health Blog
4:09 pm
Fri July 13, 2012

Governors Spar Over Medicaid And Health Exchanges

Credit Cliff Owen / AP
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell says Medicaid should be overhauled before it's expanded.

Originally published on Fri July 13, 2012 9:24 pm

The nation's governors — well, many of them, anyway — are gathering in Colonial Williamsburg, Va., for their annual summer meeting this weekend.

It's no easy trick for the National Governors Association to get Republican and Democratic chief executives on the same page, or even the same room.

This year, in the wake of the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, it's even harder.

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Shots - Health Blog
3:03 pm
Thu July 12, 2012

State Legislatures Stay Busy On Abortion Laws

Credit Steve Helber / AP
Virginia Senate Republican Leader Thomas Norment, of James City, (left), and State Sen. Stephen Newman, of Lynchburg, listen to a Feb. debate on a bill requiring an ultrasound before an abortion. The bill was later amended to remove a requirement for transvaginal ultrasound.

2011 was a banner year for state laws restricting abortion. And 2012 looks like runner-up.

That's the central finding of the midyear report from the Guttmacher Institute, the reproductive policy research group that keeps track of such things.

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Shots - Health Blog
2:21 am
Wed July 11, 2012

Will Medicaid Bring The Uninsured Out Of The Woodwork?

Originally published on Thu July 12, 2012 3:54 pm

Ever since the Supreme Court decided last month that an expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act should be optional, quite a few Republican governors have been vowing to take a pass.

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Shots - Health Blog
3:26 pm
Fri July 6, 2012

More Answers To Your Questions About The Health Care Law

Credit Adam Cole / NPR
The Affordable Care Act remains pretty much intact after its review by the Supreme Court. So what's in it anyway?

Originally published on Tue July 10, 2012 3:46 pm

Now that the Supreme Court has upheld almost all of the Affordable Care Act, many Americans are scrambling to remember — or learn for the first time – what's in the law and how it works.

We asked for questions from our audiences online and on air. Here's are some, edited for clarity and length, and the answers:

Q: Will the penalty for not having health insurance affect people at all income levels, or will low-income people be spared?

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Shots - Health Blog
1:28 pm
Tue July 3, 2012

True Or False? Elected Officials Interpret The Health Law

Credit Michael Conroy / AP
Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal wants the administration's health care law repealed.

Originally published on Tue July 3, 2012 1:32 pm

How well do you remember what's actually in the Affordable Care Act?

Last week's Supreme Court decision upholding President Obama's signature domestic achievement has thrust the measure back into the spotlight, where it's likely to remain through the presidential election.

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Shots - Health Blog
5:28 pm
Fri June 29, 2012

The Day After A Health Care Crescendo, Each Side Plays A Familiar Refrain

Credit David Goldman / AP
Joy Reynolds of San Diego, Calif., looks over Friday's front pages on display at the Newseum in Washington, the day after the Supreme Court ruling on President Barack Obama's health care law.

Originally published on Fri June 29, 2012 9:26 pm

On the day after the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of President Obama's health care law, Washington returned to business as usual.

In other words, supporters of the law were busy praising its virtues, and opponents calling for its demise.

Over at Georgetown University Law Center, several health law experts got together to dissect the court's ruling and what it might mean down the line.

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Shots - Health Blog
10:13 pm
Thu June 28, 2012

High Court Health Care Ruling Shifts Action To States

Credit Kevin Dietsch / UPI /Landov
Protesters and supporters of President Obama's health care law await the Supreme Court's ruling Thursday. The court ruled to uphold the law. The focus now shifts to the states, which are responsible for the lion's share of getting people without insurance covered.

Originally published on Fri June 29, 2012 8:27 pm

The Supreme Court's decision to uphold nearly all of the Affordable Care Act may move the debate to the presidential campaign trail. But it shifts much of the burden of implementing the law to the states.

States are actually responsible for the lion's share of getting people without insurance covered under the health law.

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Shots - Health Blog
3:56 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Medicaid Expansion Goes Overlooked In Supreme Court Anticipation

Credit Adam Cole / NPR
When the U.S. Supreme Court rules Thursday on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, it will also rule on whether the expansion of Medicaid is an unconstitutional infringement of states' rights.

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 5:20 pm

When the Supreme Court announces its long-anticipated decision on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, all eyes will be on the so-called individual mandate. That's the section of the law that requires most Americans to either have health insurance or pay a penalty starting in 2014.

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