What’s Different About Covering Health Policy in a Second Trump Term?

In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha highlights a sobering figure: 91,000 premature deaths in the U.S. each year are tied to air pollution from burning oil and gas—roughly 3% of all annual deaths. He then revisits a 2019 study that followed seniors with diabetes after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, finding a 40% spike in mortality in the month after the storms and lingering risk for years due to disrupted care. New York Times health policy correspondent Margot Sanger-Katz joins to reflect on what feels different about covering health policy under the second Trump administration: an unprecedented volume and pace of policy shifts, the challenge of helping readers navigate overwhelming change and the role of journalism as both analyst and explainer.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• The health burden and racial-ethnic disparities of air pollution from the major oil and gas lifecycle stages in the United States — Science Advances
• Long-term Effects of Disasters on Seniors With Diabetes: Evidence From Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — Diabetes Care

About the Guest

Margot Sanger-Katz is a Domestic Correspondent for the New York Times who writes for The Upshot on how government influences the American health care system. Her reporting focuses on health care policy and public health, as well as the federal budget and efforts to change it.

About the Host

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Music by Katherine Beggs, additional music by Lulu West and Maya Polsky