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 News
4:10 pm
Mon February 25, 2013

Governors' D.C. Summit Dominated By Medicaid And The Sequester

Credit Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad speaks during a panel discussion at the National Governors Association 2013 Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Originally published on Mon February 25, 2013 4:31 pm

When the nation's governors gathered in Washington, D.C., over the weekend for their annual winter meeting, the gathering's official theme was about efforts to hire people with disabilities.

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Shots - Health News
2:47 pm
Thu February 21, 2013

Morning-After Pills Don't Cause Abortion, Studies Say

Credit UPI/Landov
Plan B is one of two emergency contraceptives available in the U.S.

Originally published on Fri February 22, 2013 1:51 pm

The most heated part of the fight between the Obama administration and religious groups over new rules that require most health plans to cover contraception actually has nothing to do with birth control. It has to do with abortion.

Specifically, do emergency contraceptives interfere with a fertilized egg and cause what some consider to be abortion?

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Shots - Health News
3:18 pm
Tue February 19, 2013

How The Sequester Could Affect Health Care

Credit Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA/Landov
On Tuesday, President Obama urged congressional action to prevent automatic spending cuts scheduled to begin on March 1.

Originally published on Tue February 19, 2013 3:56 pm

It's looking increasingly likely that $85 billion of automatic federal budget cuts known as a sequester will come to pass if Congress doesn't act by March 1.

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Shots - Health News
8:42 am
Thu February 14, 2013

More Women Turn To Morning-After Pill

Credit Joe Raedle / Getty Images
The Plan B pill, one version of the morning-after pill, is available without a prescription, except for women 17 and younger.

Originally published on Thu February 14, 2013 8:56 am

The number of women who have used emergency contraceptive pills has increased dramatically in the past decade, according to the latest government data.

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Shots - Health News
12:19 pm
Thu February 7, 2013

Catholic Bishops Reject Compromise On Contraceptives

Credit Patrick Semansky / AP
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the administration's attempted compromise on contraceptive coverage is unacceptable.

Originally published on Thu February 7, 2013 2:28 pm

It seems the third time wasn't the charm, after all.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has officially rejected the Obama Administration's latest attempt to ensure that women with health insurance get access to no-cost contraceptive coverage without violating the rights of religious employers.

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