Steve is joined by NPR's Health Policy Correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss what pharmaceutical companies got for all their campaign contributions. (3:37)
Medicare and Medicaid are mandatory spending programs and that keeps them relatively safe in the early days of the shutdown, but 42% of the Department of Health's staff will be furloughed.
Even the Trump-era surgeon general is concerned about the repercussions for women's health, as doctors say they are reluctant to practice in states that have banned abortion.
Politicians are again pointing fingers over cutting Medicare. Any party accused of threatening the program tends to lose elections, but without a bipartisan agreement, seniors stand to lose the most.