Nurse Talk

California has expanded the state's Medicaid program to some undocumented immigrant workers, but not all. Who gets coverage, and who doesn't? Is lack of insurance coverage the only issue immigrant workers face when it comes to their survival? Did the pandemic reveal that the "safety net" is full of holes? To find out, we spoke to Luz Gallegos, executive director of TODEC Legal Center in Southern C...

Undocumented workers in California contribute about $3.7 billion in state and local taxes each year. They hold one in 16 jobs in the state. What challenges do they face when it comes to getting access to quality health care? How is this impacting their health and our communities? To find out, we spoke to Luz Gallegos, executive director of TODEC Legal Center in Southern California’s Inland Empire....

Since the free market has failed to rein in costs and achieve equity in health care, what’s next? Can we govern our seemingly ungovernable healthcare sector? Can we build legislative consensus around policies that protect all of us, equally? Join Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access, a health consumer advocacy coalition, and host Brenda Gazzar for the lowdown on California legislati...

Why is reforming our healthcare system necessary? Is there any point in trying to change it, given the power of health insurers and pharmaceutical companies? Find out from someone who’s spent decades fighting and winning battles for healthcare justice. Join Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access, a health consumer advocacy coalition, and host Brenda Gazzar in this first of two podcast...

Why do some elderly patients on Medicare struggle to get the health care they need? What are some of the dangers of Medicare Advantage? Join Casey Hobbs, RN, director of nursing at a retirement community in Northern California and co-creator/co-host of the popular podcast NurseTalk, and host Brenda Gazzar, to learn exactly what expenses senior Americans are on the hook for. In this second podcast...

Health care in America remains marked by disparities and spiraling costs twelve years after passage of the Affordable Care Act. Given the divisive political climate in Washington DC, states are struggling to work out their own solutions. Governor Gavin Newsom’s Healthy California for All Commission studied the problem for two years and released an eye-opening report detailing how single payer woul...

With all the hand-wringing about the cost of single-payer, it’s time to ask if California can keep paying the price for the fragmented healthcare system we have today. Listen and check out the surprising answer in this first podcast of two featuring Ian Lewis, Political & Research Director at the National Union of Healthcare Workers and host Brenda Gazzar as they do the math on healthcare systems...

Is California finally getting serious about fixing health care? On April 25, 2022, a major report was issued on California's fragmented and uber-expensive healthcare system. Who's behind the report? What were its conclusions and recommendations? And how much money can Californians actually save? Get these answers and more! Join host Brenda Gazzar and guest Michael Lighty, president of Healthy Cali...

Why is employee health insurance a growing burden on American businesses? How are some large employers managing to cut out the health insurance middleman? Why didn’t the Affordable Care Act solve all these problems? Join host Brenda Gazzar and guest Wendell Potter, co-founder of Business Leaders for Healthcare Transformation, for these answers and more! Potter, former VP of corporate communication...

What’s the healthcare industry been up to since winning passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010? Are mergers, acquisitions and industry consolidation improving care for patients? Who are the Big Six healthcare corporations and how are they faring? Join host Brenda Gazzar and guest Wendell Potter, co-founder of Business Leaders for Healthcare Transformation, for these answers and more! Potter, f...

How is the truth about single payer/Medicare for All twisted by the corporate media and right-wing billionaires? What must Americans do to take back their health care? Join host Brenda Gazzar and Hartmann, America’s No. 1 progressive talk radio show host and New York Times bestselling author, as they discuss the implications of his book, “The Hidden History of American Health Care: Why Sickness Ba...

Why should people who have great health insurance care about people who don't? Listen as guest Dr. Paul Y. Song, radiation oncologist and president of Physicians for a National Health Program - California, and host Brenda Gazzar discuss the roots of America's unequal healthcare system. Why did the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration develop two different public insurance programs - Medicare for retir...

What does it mean to “privatize” Medicare? What’s ACO-Reach? Why does it matter? Who’s for it, who’s against it, and why? Join host Brenda Gazzar and Ed Weisbart, MD, a retired family physician, former chief medical officer of Express Scripts and a national board member of Physicians for a National Health Program to get the low-down. Dr. Weisbart shines a revealing light on an issue that will impa...

How do common American hospital practices traumatize patients and their nurses? What experiences erode trust between the sick and their healers? Join host Brenda Gazzar and Kathy Allan, RN and board-certified holistic nurse, for unique insights into healthcare-acquired trauma and what we can do about it. Her years of training in PTSD and Developmental Trauma, combined with her experience working a...

For most of us, the horror of getting a cancer diagnosis is only the beginning of a protracted, exhausting and stressful struggle to get the coverage and care we need to survive. Patients with life-threatening illnesses are at ground zero of a major moral conflict in America - a healthcare system that is as much about profit as it is about care. Join host Brenda Gazzar and Daniel Ray Hilsinger, fi...

What can advocates do when lawmakers shirk their responsibility to fix a healthcare system that hurts so many? Are campaign contributions from the for-profit healthcare industry the reason legislators refuse to advance reforms that would cover everybody, for everything, for less money? In this second of two podcasts, join host Brenda Gazzar and Whole Washington founder and operations director Geor...

Whole Washington, a grassroots coalition in the Evergreen State, is committed to winning health care, "created by The People, for Everyone!" The Whole Washington Health Trust would be the nation's first public, non-profit healthcare system. Who's the founder of Whole Washington, and what led her to champion healthcare reform? What's been done so far to advance health care for all in Washington, an...

HMOs may seem like a good deal, but what if you need a medical specialist? Will the doctor you need be in your network? And what about those crazy bills? Join host Brenda Gazzar and guest Nilton Fonseca, husband, father of three, and a construction engineering director, as he describes his struggle to find a plastic surgeon experienced in his condition. Did his appeal to the relevant state regulat...

How do our healthcare and health insurance systems respond to patients with rare diseases? What about diseases that are stereotypically considered a “woman’s disease?” Do all breast cancer patients - even men - receive the full range of care they need? Join guest Nilton Fonseca, husband and father of three, with three decades of domestic and international construction engineering experience, as he...

What should single-payer supporters around the country think about the defeat of California's AB 1400? Did the state just lose its bid for healthcare equity? Join guest Michael Lighty, president of Healthy California Now, and host Brenda Gazzar for an insightful analysis of how this campaign played out on the political stage. How can advocates make healthcare equity a political necessity for legis...

Does the type of insurance you have make a difference in your care? If the goal is equity, can America's multi-payer system ever deliver? Listen as guest Dr. Paul Y. Song, radiation oncologist and president of Physicians for a National Health Program - California, joins host Brenda Gazzar to pull back the curtain on the inequities baked into our healthcare system. Does expanding Medi-Cal to more p...

Does the path to winning single payer in the U.S. lie in the states, or in Congress? Would states that rejected the Medicaid expansion accept federal Medicare for All? Join guest Dr. Paul Y. Song, radiation oncologist, president of Physicians for a National Health Program - California and host Brenda Gazzar for a rundown of states’ efforts to pass single-payer healthcare. What’s behind their failu...

Is California set to lead the nation with single payer? Tune in for expert analysis of the latest legislative developments on Assembly Bill 1400, the California Guaranteed Health Care Act! Join host Brenda Gazzar and Michael Lighty, president of Healthy California Now, as he describes the complex path to victory for what could be the first state-based single-payer program in the nation. What just...

New from Code WACK, Pandemic: Preparing for a New Normal (2022 Update) by Nurse Talk

In celebration of our first 100 Code WACK! episodes, we’re revisiting one of our very first - and most disturbing - podcasts. It’s about how our ‘wack’ healthcare system, with its confusing mess of various insurance plans, treats patients very differently depending on who pays the claims. Tragically, it’s as relevant today as ever! Guests Dr. Ron Birnbaum and Dr. Paul Y. Song reveal to host Brenda...