Building Biden’s Health Agenda with Chris Jennings and Doug Badger

Two health policy experts joined Chip to discuss the new Biden administration’s approach to developing and implementing health policy. With COVID-19 raging across the country, Chris Jennings and Doug Badger touch on Biden’s first 100 days in office and how they expect Biden’s health teams to tackle the health and economic fallout from COVID in contrast to the Trump administration. Importantly, they touch on how the ACA can shore up health care coverage for uninsured Americans. Then they each provide an analysis on how the White House staff, regulatory agencies and Congress work together to achieve their goals. Chris provides the Democratic perspective while Doug responds with the Republican.

Chris Jennings has spent decades working in the White House, Congress and private sector. He spent time in both the Clinton and Obama White Houses as Senior Advisor to the President for Health Policy and helped pass, enact and implement the ACA, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and numerous other health reforms. Most recently, President-elect Biden appointed Mr. Jennings to him on the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force.

Doug Badger has been in public policy for many decades and has been a policy advisor to the White House, U.S. Senate, Department of HHS and the SSA. Doug worked in the Bush (43) administration and developed the administration’s proposal for adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare. Badger represented the White House in negotiations with Congress that resulted in the enactment of the Medicare Modernization Act. 

Interested in learning more about how health care coverage can affect a population’s access to care? Listen to Chip’s conversation Advancing Health Equity: Bridging Social Gaps in Health Care with Dr. Chidinma A. Ibe.