Nurse Talk

What if your surgery were suddenly cancelled the day before because your insurer deemed it "medically unnecessary?" What choices do Americans have when it comes to their care? Would global budgeting have helped rural hospitals cope with the pandemic? Stephanie Kang, PhD, health policy director for Rep. Pramila Jayapal, shares with Brenda Gazzar how her father's personal experience with a marketpla...

What’s the point of pushing for Medicare for All when President Biden opposes it? What about racial equity in healthcare - is winning single payer enough? Is there any value in supporting incremental legislation expanding Medicare to some? Host Brenda Gazzar and guest, Dr. Stephanie Kang, PhD and current Congressional health policy director, discuss legislative strategies worth pursuing now if we...

Featuring Dr. Thomas Rice, health economist and Distinguished Professor at University of California, Los Angeles’ Fielding School of Public Health, and host Brenda Gazzar, discussing why it’s not “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to health insurance systems. This is part two of a two-part series.

Why does the U.S. healthcare system perform poorly in equity and efficiency compared to other wealthy nations? How does the U.S. ration access to health care based on cost? How do other countries manage to cover everyone for less? What lessons can we learn from their health insurance systems? Host Brenda Gazzar and her guest, Dr. Thomas Rice, health economist and Distinguished Professor in UCLA’s...

What's happening with healthcare reform in one of the bluest states in the nation, California? On which three fronts are single-payer advocates battling? What's essential to winning a healthcare justice ground game? Join host Brenda Gazzar and her guest, Ellen Karel, Chair of Health Care for All - California, as they discuss this historic moment for single-payer in the Golden State!

How did Ellen Karel, the chair of Health Care for All-California, come to support Medicare for All? What lead her to advocate for healthcare equity? Join host Brenda Gazzar and Ellen Karel as they discuss how expensive getting care can be, even with health insurance. Why should hardworking Californians, struggling to survive on low incomes, face hurdles to getting the care they need? What is holdi...

How did Hawaii’s effort to establish universal healthcare get derailed by the Affordable Care Act? What’s an all-payer healthcare system and is it an alternative (or a path) to single-payer? What really happened with Vermont’s attempt at single payer? Dr. Stephen Kemble, psychiatrist and past president of the Hawaii Medical Association, and host Brenda Gazzar discuss what key feature of a single-p...

How has Medicaid Managed Care affected the availability of mental health services for low-income patients? Do corporate insurance industry practices, like medication preauthorization, complicate the treatment of mental health patients? Dr. Stephen Kemble, psychiatrist and past president of the Hawaii Medical Association, and host Brenda Gazzar discuss how Managed Care creates burdens for patients...

Featuring Dr. Nancy Niparko, a pediatric neurologist, and host Brenda Gazzar on how common health insurance industry practices drove her to shut down her private practice. Can doctors stay in business when today’s reimbursement rates in some specialties can be lower than they were 30 years ago?

What can doctors do when they learn the best treatment for their patients is not covered by health insurance? How are American children impacted by coverage denials and the high cost of medicines? Brenda Gazzar and Dr. Nancy Niparko, a pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, discuss the frustrating and unnecessary insurance hassles doctors routinely face while trying to properly...

How has the coronavirus pandemic affected those who lost their jobs and their health insurance? What has been the emotional and the financial toll? Cathy Munzer, a fitness instructor from New York, shares her personal struggle to make ends meet while getting the health care she desperately needs.

What would the political path to winning Medicare for All look like? How can we take on the power of corporate health care? Why is it essential that people understand how our for-profit healthcare system affects them personally? Host Brenda Gazzar and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, physician and politician, discuss how his compelling new book, “Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide” was written for skeptics an...

What impact did having roots in two worlds - Detroit, Michigan and Alexandria, Egypt - have on a young Dr. Abdul El-Sayed? How did his life experience sharpen his perception of the systems of inequality? What motivated him to first pursue a career in medicine, then move on to public health and now politics? Host Brenda Gazzar and Dr. El-Sayed, physician and politician, discuss his compelling life...

What are the key features of CalCare, California’s new single-payer bill (AB 1400)? Will it save money, or cost more? If we had single-payer, would Californians still have to pay premiums and deductibles? University of California San Francisco professor emeritus James G. Kahn, health economics expert, and host Brenda Gazzar discuss facts about CalCare, including options to finance it, and what we...

What convinced a global health expert that single-payer healthcare systems are the way to go? How did the coronavirus pandemic impact the existing American healthcare system? Why has the California Legislature failed to get to single-payer despite widespread support for it? UCSF professor emeritus James G. Kahn, health economics expert, and Brenda Gazzar discuss the state of past and future health...

New from Code WACK, America's Racial Generation Gap & Healthcare Reform. by Nurse Talk

How does our corporate healthcare system prevent us from fully investing in the public good? What about its disparate impact on Black Americans? How would we all benefit if our society prioritized taking care of people? Sean Cavanaugh, campaign director for Whole Washington, and host Brenda Gazzar, discuss why SB 5204, the latest single payer bill in Washington State, is vital and how it would wor...

What are the traps that can keep survivors locked into abusive relationships? Is domestic violence more common in lower-income households? What advantages do higher-income survivors have when they seek help? Michele Hamilton, counselor and board member of Health Care 4 All-PA, joins host Brenda Gazzar to discuss how Medicare for All would change the dynamics for abuse survivors.

How does our health insurance system meet the needs of domestic violence victims? What obstacles do survivors of abuse face when it comes to getting and keeping health care? We spoke to Michele Hamilton, who’s been a counselor, and advocate for survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence since 2004. She’s also a board member of Health Care for All Pennsylvania. The views expressed are her own...

New from Code WACK, Radio Bilingue’s Hugo Morales – from farmworker to public radio mogul by Nurse Talk

What options are there for an uninsured performing artist facing financial destruction from medical bills? How does one’s state of residence impact the affordability of health care? Eliska Hahn and host Brenda Gazzar discuss the challenge of affording health care after developing a devastating illness even with the Affordable Care Act.

New from Code WACK, any port in America’s healthcare storm? by Nurse Talk

A second podcast featuring Dr. Nina Harawa, PhD, MPH, a professor-in-residence at the UCLA School of Medicine. Today she breaks down for us why incarcerated people are experiencing such devastating coronavirus outbreaks. How do the day-to-day realities of life in prisons and jails make it nearly impossible to avoid exposure, and what needs to be done about it?

Featuring Dr. Nina Harawa, PhD, MPH, a professor-in-residence at the UCLA School of Medicine where she has conducted innovative research with populations including HIV positive and high-risk African American men, sexually active African American and Latina women, transgender women and the incarcerated. How are these communities faring during the coronavirus pandemic?

Why did a man in his 20s die from a totally treatable disease? How do social determinants affect patients’ ability to get to doctors appointments or buy prescribed medicines? Host Brenda Gazzar and Dr. Susan Rogers, new president of Physicians for a National Health Program, discuss how essential it is to acknowledge the role inequities play in health care and to stop blaming patients. For more inf...