The Cost of Care

We’ve all heard about the amazing advances in genetic testing and personalized diagnoses. What’s incredible is that these resources are increasingly accessible to each of us, allowing us to anticipate and plan for the uncertainties that lie at some future date. We talk to someone who literally had their life saved through these personalized, preventive measures along with an expert who unpacks whe...

Alzheimer's is one of the most insidious and heartbreaking diseases a person can face. To make matters worse, the US healthcare system is simply not incentivized to support patients or their families in adapting to the radical change of circumstances. In this episode, David explores the illness, how the system is currently responding to it, and the very exciting things on the scientific front that...

David Smith watched as chronic pain and addiction transformed his loving father into a vengeful man who was unrecognizable. David has spent a lifetime trying to outrun his father’s fate - but now he’s looking for answers. How can we build a better healthcare system and stop the cycle of sickness, trauma and loss? In episode one, we explore his family’s story, covering everything from childhood tra...

Almost half of Americans live with obesity. In this episode we dig into the pain of living with this clinical condition, the social and cultural elements that limit our ability to fully address the obesity epidemic, and thoughts on how the system can be far more responsive to supporting those around us in achieving better health. A special thanks to Pfizer for providing funding support and to Heal...

A long-simmering crisis with pediatric mental health care came to a head during the Covid-19 crisis. In this episode, we hear one family’s challenging account of a brilliant young man pushed to the brink and an incredible approach to mental health by a school system in the Bay Area. Special thanks to our season two sponsor Thorne. Thorne believes personalized, scientific wellness can extend the du...

In this episode, host David Smith sits down with two experts on supplements. We learn more about this health care adjacent market, and all the attendant noise faced by consumers just trying to live better lives. Special thanks to our season two sponsor Thorne. Thorne believes personalized, scientific wellness can extend the duration of one's health span, create happier and healthier lives, and fee...

On this episode of The Cost of Care, host David Smith speaks with author Nicole Chung, author of A Living Remedy, a searing memoir of family, class and grief—a daughter’s search to understand the lives her adoptive parents led, the life she forged as an adult, and the lives she’s lost. Listen to A Living Remedy by Nicole Chung on Apple Books and find all of our other Lemonada Book Club audiobook s...

In this episode we examine two cases of irritable bowel disease (IBD). Where both individuals have symptoms that can be addressed through life changing medicines, but yet have outcomes that are wildly different. You'll hear audio from inside United, the country's largest health insurance company, capturing its employees doing everything possible to deny life changing care. Special thanks to our se...

Nothing pulls at our heartstrings more than a sick kiddo. Remarkably, our system does quite well for children with serious illnesses. But luck plays way too big a part in which kids live or die. Special thanks to our season two sponsor Thorne. Thorne believes personalized, scientific wellness can extend the duration of one's health span, create happier and healthier lives, and feel one’s best at e...

The breathtaking pace at which the Covid-19 pandemic upended American society and commerce with lingering effects has scores of lessons that will teach future generations how society should grapple with a debilitating public health crisis while preserving economic vitality, political function, and social cohesion. In this episode of The Cost of Care, David Smith dives deep into how Covid-19 was a...

It’s The Cost of Care Live from the Health Plan Alliance Fall Leadership Summit! Join our host David Smith and an exciting panel of healthcare policy leaders to examine critical questions such as: What is it that you wish you could do for your members to improve their health but can’t? If there were no constraints on what you could invest in, what would you do? Thank you, Health Plan Alliance, for...

Recorded and produced by StoryCorps Studios, Voices From the Frontlines is a project created by #FirstRespondersFirst, an initiative of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, and Creative Artists Agency Foundation that takes a whole human approach to healthcare worker well-being. Additional support is provided by the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation.  In this conversation, col...

Recorded and produced by StoryCorps Studios, Voices From the Frontlines is a project created by #FirstRespondersFirst, an initiative of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, and Creative Artists Agency Foundation that takes a whole human approach to healthcare worker well-being. Additional support is provided by the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation.  In this conversation, Fil...

In this special episode of The Cost of Care, host David Smith shines a light on how the nation is driving a national shortage of nursing professionals, hearing from frontline, retired, and nurse educators and advocates. He'll take listeners through the nursing landscape pre-pandemic, how COVID-19 fueled the crisis, and what the future portends without meaningful intervention. Sponsored by Nurse.co...

In a special episode, timed with Black History Month, David shares his thoughts on the legacy of slavery and the impact structural racism on the cost of care today, about a year since the show’s first launch. David’s joined by Kristi Henderson of Optum, Yasmine Winkler, a leader in the health, diversity and inclusion space and Ron Wyatt of MCIC Vermont to define health equity today, and explore ho...

As a holiday bonus, the team at The Cost of Care wanted to share one of their favorite podcasts of 2021 with you.  New Day from Lemonada Media is a podcast with a simple goal - helping you get through the day and look forward to tomorrow. Every week, Claire Bidwell Smith shares one way to make your day and life a little better. From waking up with more energy to finding contentment with relationsh...

Opioids are killing more people than ever. In 2020, overdose deaths in the U.S. spiked nearly 30% to a record high -- the sharpest annual increase in 30 years. Fentanyl sold on the street and the ongoing toll of the pandemic are the primary drivers. With so many of us affected, there’s a dire need for solutions. That’s why we’re re-releasing episodes 2-12 from season one with new updates from prev...

In the final episode of the season, David highlights pro tips from the experts themselves: patient advocates Linda Michelson and AnnMarie McIlwain. Dr. David Blumenthal of The Commonwealth Fund joins to shine the light on tangible solutions on how to restructure our national health care system.   Resources from the episode: Check out Marshall Allen's book, Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways...

From the start of our show, we’ve asked listeners to share stories about navigating the American health care system. Today, David talks with those of you who have had to fight for health care in order to manage chronic illnesses, secure gender-affirming surgeries, and help children receive developmental therapies for Down Syndrome.   Resources from the episode: Planned Parenthood transgender ident...

Medical jargon is a thing of the past and health literacy is now en vogue – and can actually save patients’ lives according to our guest, Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick. We're also joined by Dr. Venice Haynes and Natalie Davis who talk to us about the anxiety, confusion, and fears people across the country have about asking those life-saving health care questions and booking a doctor’s appointment in the fi...

America’s relationship with Dialysis is out of control. Roughly 1% of the entire federal budget is spent treating people with kidney failure. That’s billions of dollars devoted to treating one preventable illness. How did we end up with so many people on dialysis? And who’s getting rich from it? This week, we connect the dots from Richard Nixon to Dr. Evil and talk with disruptors who have some ne...

The complications started around week 18 of Marquisse Watson’s pregnancy. Six weeks later, her baby girl Alana was born premature. Marquisse and her husband Antwon had bought the baby clothes, gotten the nursery ready… but Alana passed away 36 hours after she was born. This week, we talk to Marquisse about working through her grief seven years later. We’re joined by Venice Haynes and Meredith Shoc...

The healthcare system is basically a lucrative game of tug-of-war among players – and the winner reaps a trillion dollar pot of gold. But is it a fair game? David explores the monstrous “fee-for service system” with Dr. Vivian Lee. Then, Dr. Jill Gross joins David to explore how the results can lead to a total system breakdown.     Resources from the episode: Pick up your own copy of Dr. Lee’s boo...

Lauren Bard’s little girl, Sadie, had a 50/50 chance of survival when she was born 14 weeks premature. Luckily, Lauren is a nurse at Dignity Health, a Catholic hospital, so she had good insurance and knew how to protect herself...or so she thought. Instead, she ended up with a $1.7 million dollar bill. Dr. Ashish Jha also joins David this week to help us figure out how the heck this happened.   Re...

This week, we’re talking about upcoding, and how it can lead to $11,000 COVID tests, $629 bandaids, and mothers waiting within sprinting distance to the hospital. America has some of the best doctors and hospitals in the world, but many patients are too afraid to walk through the doors for fear of going into unnecessary debt.  Dr. Zachary Sussman, New York Times journalist Sarah Kliff and ProPubli...