AI: Does Europe Have the Answer?

When health systems are stressed, Martin McKee has been there taking notes. He's spent four decades studying collapse and recovery — the post-Soviet transition, the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and research director of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, he's turned that lens on AI. He arrives at a charged moment: America is locked in a debate over whether AI development should slow down or even pause. Europe made a different choice — binding AI with some of the world's strictest rules. After a run of episodes examining AI through a U.S. lens, Chip and McKee cross the Atlantic: What does the American debate look like from Europe — and does regulation offer an answer that a pause cannot?

Midterm Madness

The midterm elections are less than a month away, and a new poll from KFF shows voters are very concerned about rising health costs and trust Democrats more than Republicans to address the issue. In an apparent attempt to close the gap, President Donald Trump is sending checks, some dubbed as “refunds,” to some Medicare and Affordable Care Act enrollees, but those checks are for far less than most patients’ costs have risen in 2026. Meanwhile, Republicans had planned for the healthcare cuts included in their signature 2025 budget law to take effect after the midterms. But many states and healthcare providers have jumped the gun, cutting funding and services now in anticipation of fewer federal funds in 2027. This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Sun.

KFF Midterms Data Presentation: What Do Voters Think About Health Care Now?

Early Voting Begins

This week, Trump administration officials announced their latest efforts to trim what they identified as duplicative and ineligible enrollees from government health programs. They tied the efforts to the administration’s broader crackdown on waste, fraud, and abuse — just as some states are opening polling stations for early voting. The outcome of the midterm elections is expected to affect how and whether Congress addresses several healthcare issues during the lame-duck session, not the least of which is government spending. Plus, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled a new initiative to identify vaccine injuries, complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the National Institutes of Health. This week’s panelists are Mary Agnes Carey of KFF Health News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law, and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Sun.

AI in Health Care: Who Gets Left Behind? October 12, 2026

Episode 19, AI Series: Health care’s AI future is being built right now. The open question is “for whom?” Dr. Uché Blackstock — emergency physician, former associate professor at NYU School of Medicine, founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity, and author of The New York Times bestseller “Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine” — joins host Chip Kahn to argue that AI governance should be shaped not only by regulators and review boards, but by the communities the tools are meant to serve. Dr. Blackstock explains why she is skeptical of technology that presents itself as neutral, how average performance can conceal unequal harm, and what equitable AI design would require. She also makes the business case for equity and describes trust as infrastructure that can be designed into the system. Will the AI revolution reach the patients American health care has historically failed — or pass them by? https://www.kff.org/other-health/ai-in-health-care-who-gets-left-behind/

Key Facts About Medigap Enrollment and Premiums for Medicare Beneficiaries Authors: Meredith Freed, Nancy Ochieng, and Juliette Cubanski Published: Oct 13, 2026

https://www.kff.org/medicare/key-facts-about-medigap-enrollment-and-premiums-for-medicare-beneficiaries/ This brief presents facts about Medigap, including the characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries with a Medigap policy, variation in Medigap enrollment by state, and Medigap premiums.

Medigap Guaranteed Issue Requirements: An Overview of Federal and State Rules Authors: Meredith Freed, Yasmina Issaka, Nancy Ochieng, and Juliette Cubanski Published: Oct 13, 2026

https://www.kff.org/medicare/medigap-guaranteed-issue-requirements-an-overview-of-federal-and-state-rules/ This issue brief analyzes federal and state rules related to guaranteed issue requirements for Medigap policies and how they impact beneficiaries’ access to Medigap, including the implications for Medicare beneficiaries with pre-existing medical conditions and those under age 65 with long-term disabilities.