Medicare For All Explained

Health Inequality and Physical Structure

This is episode 38, “Health Inequality and Physical Structure.”

My guest, Gracie Himmelstein, and her sister, Kathryn Himmelstein, MD, cowrote a paper, "Inequality Set in Concrete," which examines how unequal hospital facilities and capital assets contribute to ongoing racial disparities in health.

Gracie is an MD candidate at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and a PhD candidate in Demography and Social Policy at the Office of Population Research at Princeton University. She received her MA in Demography from Princeton in 2019.

Do not miss this episode as Gracie discusses how ongoing differences in physical structures and capital assets contribute to worse health outcomes in minorities.

A Living Wage Home Cleaning Company and COVID-19

This is episode 37, “A Living Wage Home Cleaning Company and COVID-19.”

My guest, Aaron Seyedian, is originally from a small town in Western New York and has lived in the Washington, DC area for nearly 15 years. He created Well-Paid Maids to help bolster the living-wage movement by demonstrating that living-wage businesses can be successful in traditionally low-paying industries. Prior to founding Well-Paid Maids, Aaron worked in management consulting and international development."

Do not miss this episode as Aaron discusses creating a business, providing a living wage, good health benefits for his employees, Medicare for All, and the effects of COVID-19 on his business.

 

We don’t have a health care system in the United States

This is episode 36, "We don’t have a health care system in the United States."

My guest, Prof. Daniel Skinner, Ph.D., teaches health policy at Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. He covers Medicaid reform, Medicare financing, and issues surrounding creating a health care system that covers everybody while providing quality care that is affordable. Prof. Skinner earned a Ph.D. and an M.A. in political science from City University of New York.

Prof. Skinner also hosts the podcast "Prognosis Ohio” with WCBE, 90.5 FM, in Columbus, Ohio. The podcast discusses health care, health policy, and health politics in Ohio, and other issues that relate to health outcomes such as food, housing, addiction, and mental health.

Do not miss the episode as Prof. Skinner discusses why we don’t have a health care system in the United States and how we can get the system we want.

 

Racial Inequities: COVID-19 has essentially ripped the cover off of some of the deepest cracks in our current healthcare system

This is episode 35, "Racial Inequities: COVID-19 has essentially ripped the cover off of some of the deepest cracks in our current healthcare system."

My guest, Dr. Ashley Duhon, is a recent New Orleans area medical school graduate.

Over the past four years of medical school, she has been active with Students for a National Health Program, also known as SNaHP, on the local and national levels. She co-founded the SNaHP chapter at her medical school and has held national leadership positions within SNaHP, serving on the National Board for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Most recently, she has worked on a campaign alongside a coalition of progressive organizations in New Orleans resulting in the unanimous passage of a resolution in support of Medicare for All by the New Orleans City Council.

In July, Dr. Duhon will begin her residency in OB/GYN in the Bronx borough of New York.

Do not miss this episode as Dr. Duhon describes how COVID-19 exposes racial disparities in our current healthcare system.

An Ongoing Issue: Drug Prices and Supplies Before and During the Pandemic

This is episode 34, “An Ongoing Issue: Drug Prices and Supplies Before and During the Pandemic.”

My guest, Shannon Rotolo, has her doctorate in pharmacy and is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at the University of Chicago Medicine. She manages high cost specialty drugs that are complex to administer. Dr. Rotolo precepts pharmacy students at the University at Buffalo, University of Illinois at Chicago, and several other schools of pharmacy located in the Chicagoland area for introductory and advanced pharmacy practice experiences.

Do not miss this episode as Dr. Rotolo describes the problems with drug supplies and high drug prices before and during this pandemic.

Patients Are Just Pawns in the Game

This is episode 33, “Patients Are Just Pawns in the Game.”

My guest, Anna Stratis, MD, is a Canadian-trained family physician with a passion for working with people in communities and improving healthcare and quality of life. She has a broad spectrum of experience in adult and pediatric primary care. Dr. Stratis has practiced in Canada and the United States and is volunteering at a New York City hospital during the current COVID-19 crisis.

Do not miss this episode as Dr. Stratis describes the conditions volunteering at a hospital in New York City, the differences between working as a physician in Canada and the U.S., and why the Canadian system is better for patients and physicians.

If There's an Argument for Medicare for All That Ought to Convince Everyone, It's This Epidemic

This is episode 32, “If There's an Argument for Medicare for All That Ought to Convince Everyone, It's This Epidemic.”

My guest, David Himmelstein, MD, is a Distinguished Professor of public health and health policy in the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College.

Dr. Himmelstein is a co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program. He has authored or coauthored more than 100 journal articles and three books, and is a top expert on the waste and abuse of our current health care system.

Do not miss this episode as Dr. Himmelstein describes the United States’ devastating response to the coronavirus pandemic and how a single-payer Medicare for All system would help.

Episode 32 Transcript

 

The Tremendous Good a Publicly Sponsored Insurance System Can Do

This is episode 31, "The Tremendous Good a Publicly Sponsored Insurance System Can Do."

My guest, Donald Berwick, MD, has a Masters of Public Policy and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He is President Emeritus and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), an organization that Dr. Berwick co-founded and led as President and CEO for 18 years. He is considered one of the nation's leading authorities on health care quality and improvement.

Dr. Berwick is a pediatrician by background, and he has served as Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Health Care Policy at the Harvard Medical School, Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health, and on the staff of several hospitals. He has also served as chair of the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

In July, 2010, President Obama appointed Dr. Berwick to the position of Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and he served as Administrator until December, 2011.

Do not miss this episode as Dr. Berwick makes the case for single-payer Medicare for All that is patient-centered.

Episode 31 Transcript

 

Plain Economics: The Main Problem With Rural Health Care

This is episode 30, "Plain Economics: The Main Problem With Rural Health Care."

My guest, Robert Devereaux, MD, practices family medicine in Pearisburg, Virginia, a rural town near the West Virginia border. He received his medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and is certified by the American Board of Family Physicians. Dr. Devereaux has been in practice for more than 20 years.

Do not miss this episode as Dr. Devereaux describes the problems that rural residents have getting health care and how Medicare for All can help.

Episode 30 Transcript

 

Retrospective Denials

This is episode 29, “Retrospective Denials.”

My guest, Martha Gaines, is a 1983 cum laude graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School and received her LL.M in 1993 from the same school. Her thesis is titled "I do make house calls--Effective Legal Representation From Our Clients' Perspective." Ms. Gaines is on the faculty of the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia and the New York State Defender's Association in Albany, New York.”

Ms. Gaines and several colleagues founded The Center for Patient Partnerships at the University of Wisconsin in September 2000. The Center trains students from the schools of Law, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Social Work to provide advocacy to cancer patients. Ms. Gaines teaches a Patient Advocacy course where students are joined in interdisciplinary teams that help cancer patients understand their diagnoses, get the information necessary to make critical treatment decisions, and support patient's efforts to obtain the treatment they need. The Center also conducts research about issues relevant to patient care and health care delivery from the patient's perspective.

Do not miss the episode as Ms. Gaines explains what retrospective denials are, and why they are especially harmful to patients.

Here is the link to the JAMA article mentioned in the podcast, "Changing the Game of Prior Authorization, The Patient Perspective."