Julie Rovner Chosen as Robin Toner Distinguished Fellow

Award-Winning NPR Journalist Will Join Kaiser Health News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Kaiser Family Foundation has named NPR health policy correspondent Julie Rovner as the Robin Toner Distinguished Fellow.

Rovner is an award-winning journalist and noted expert on health policy issues.  While at NPR she reported on all aspects of health policy and politics in Washington and around the country.  Rovner has also served as NPR’s lead correspondent covering the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. She is the author of Health Care Policy and Politics A-Z, published by CQ Press. Rovner will begin her fellowship in May and work as a Senior Correspondent with Kaiser Health News (KHN) and its news partners, covering health policy and politics and doing enterprise reporting for a variety of platforms.

The fellowship honors the late Robin Toner, The New York Times‘ long-time health and politics reporter whose work so often framed the public debate on health issues and the intersection of these debates with the politics of Washington and the nation. She died of cancer in 2008 at the age of 54.

“Julie Rovner exemplifies the type of reporting Robin Toner was known for, the ability to explain health policy in the context of the politics and history that shape it.  We are thrilled to have her join KHN,” said Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman.

The Robin Toner Distinguished Fellowship was established in 2010 and was first awarded to Marilyn Werber Serafini.  The fellowship continues the Kaiser Family Foundation’s longstanding commitment to health care journalism, recognizing the critical role the media plays in explaining complex health issues to the nation. This commitment has included media fellowship and internship programs on health, survey partnerships with media organizations, and the establishment of the Foundation’s non-profit news service, KHN.