Code WACK!

THIS TIME ON CODE WACK! Is it really normal that the health insurance we pay for often doesn't fully protect us?  It may be 'normal' but is it right? Millions of Americans face soaring healthcare costs, coverage denials, medical debt, job lock, and even hospital closures. Have we simply come to accept these realities as part of life? Retired pediatrician and healthcare reform advocate Dr. Ana Mali...

This time on Code WACK! America's healthcare system doesn't only hurt us in big ways - like forcing us to choose between getting expensive medical treatments or living sick. Or having to choose the 'least worst,' but always very expensive health insurance policy. It also hurts us in small ways, forcing us to compromise to save a few bucks, to make a thousand little choices that can cost us our qua...

This time on Code WACK!   Imagine being cut off from Mom - a nursing home resident - for months. You can't bring her favorite foods, or help dress her, hug her, or even hold her hand. For thousands of families during the COVID-19 pandemic, this became a heartbreaking reality. And without new laws, advocates say, it could very well happen again. That's why they are fighting to ensure our loved ones...

This time on Code WACK! What role do family members and friends play in the lives of nursing home residents? When COVID hit, how were residents impacted when their loved ones were no longer allowed to visit them?  Today, we share the story of Melody Taylor Stark, who became an advocate for the Essential Caregivers Act after her husband, a retired dentist and nursing home resident, dramatically dec...

This time on Code WACK!  What happens when we get too sick to work in a healthcare system that is tied to our jobs? What is the ultimate cost?  The story of New York Health Act advocate Mariana Pineda is a case in point.  After developing Long COVID, Mariana spent years navigating the same fragmented healthcare system she was fighting to change. She lost her job. She lost her health insurance. She...

This time on Code WACK!  This is the story of a dedicated advocate, organizer, and powerful voice in the fight for healthcare justice - Mariana Pineda. Mariana was a teacher in the Roosevelt School District, Nassau County, Long Island, until she caught a serious case of COVID complicated by pre-existing conditions, including asthma and heart problems. No longer able to work, she lost her employer-...

This time on Code WACK!  For millions of Americans, health care means fighting insurance companies, putting off costly treatment, wondering whether the hospital you prefer is in-network, or fearing financial disaster if you get seriously sick. But what if healthcare worked differently? This is part two of our conversation with Dr. Bernard Ho, an emergency physician in Toronto and vice chair of Can...

This time on Code WACK!  Today we're taking an inside look at Canada's public health insurance system known as Medicare. What are the biggest misconceptions Americans have about it?  What works, what doesn't, and why? And what happens when a public system starts drifting toward privatization?  This is part one of our conversation with Dr. Bernard Ho, an emergency physician in Toronto and Vice-Chai...

This time on Code WACK! As of spring 2026, enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies have not been extended. Without congressional action, millions of Americans could face significantly higher premiums—or lose coverage altogether. Around 22 million people receive ACA premium subsidies, many of whom benefited from pandemic-era enhancements. If those aren't restored, affordability for individuals...

This time on CodeWACK! What if the rising cost of health care — the surprise bills, the shrinking choices, the long waits — weren't random at all, but largely the result of quiet, strategic consolidation happening behind the scenes? The Center for Health & Democracy has been working to reveal just this. Founded by former insurance executive-turned-whistleblower Wendell Potter, the organization shi...

This time on CodeWACK! Imagine two patients … same diagnosis, same medication, same country.  Each one needs the same prescription. One gets their care through the Department of Veterans Affairs, the other gets it through Medicare. The price of the exact same drug could be half as much for one patient as for the other. That's not a glitch. It's how the system is designed. Our guest is Bob Coleman,...

This time on CodeWACK! Today, we're talking about insurance denials, hidden incentives… and why getting care can feel like navigating a system designed to stop you. Our guest is Bob Coleman, a retired healthcare professional who spent more than 40 years serving veterans through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs— as a clinical pharmacist, medical informaticist, and researcher. His latest eboo...

This time on CodeWACK! Most employers don't actually know what they're paying for healthcare - and employees are paying the price. In this episode of Code WACK!, discover why companies are "flying blind" on healthcare costs, how opaque pricing drives higher premiums, and what this means for your coverage, care, and financial security. To learn more, we spoke with Chuck Melendi, who has more than t...

This time on CodeWACK! What challenges do employers face when providing health coverage to their employees? And what role do health insurers and Pharmacy Benefit Managers - prescription drug middlemen known as PBMs—play in shaping costs, coverage, and access to care? To find out, we spoke with C huck Melendi, who has more than three decades of experience in healthcare leadership, advocacy, and ind...

This time on CodeWACK! Today, most people on Medicaid get their care through private insurers called Managed Care Organizations, or MCOs—like Aetna and UnitedHealthcare. Critics say these companies add layers of bureaucracy that make it harder for patients—most of them low-income—to get care. They discourage physicians from accepting Medicaid patients by making them jump through hoops to get treat...

This time on CodeWACK! Why are there middlemen in Medicaid—and what are they doing to our most vulnerable patients and physicians? How and why are private insurance intermediaries permitted to put profits ahead of patients? A recent report by Physicians for a National Health Program , titled Removing the Middlemen from Medicaid , pulls back the curtain on Managed Care Organizations (MCOs). To lear...

This time on Code WACK! We're taking a closer look at what happens when private equity buys hospitals . Our guest is Dr. Renee Hsia (pronounced "Shaw"). An emergency physician at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, Dr. Hsia explains how patients can be harmed when Wall Street firms take over health care. A Professor of Emergency Medicine and Health Policy at the University of California, Sa...

This time on Code WACK!  What happens to staff and patients when private investors buy hospitals to make them more profitable? And why should this concern us all? To break it down, we spoke to Dr. Renee Hsia, an attending physician at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center and a Professor of Emergency Medicine and Health Policy at the University of California, San Francisco. She's also V...

This time on Code WACK!  Millions of Americans have health insurance, but still can't afford to use it. So what happens when high deductibles and corporate profit pressures shape the care patients receive? To break it down, we spoke with Dr. Adam Gaffney - a pulmonary and critical care physician, public health researcher, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He's also a f...

This time on Code WACK! Why do Americans live about four years less, on average, than people in similar European countries, despite spending far more on health care? And why are so many dying from illnesses we already know how to prevent or treat? To help us unpack this, we spoke with Dr. Adam Gaffney - a pulmonary and critical care physician, public health researcher, and Assistant Professor of M...

This time on Code WACK!  Why are people in America resorting to receiving medical care in animal stalls - even if they have health insurance? What would it take to make volunteer stopgap clinics unnecessary - and who stands in the way of real reform? To break it down, we spoke with leading healthcare reform advocate and New York Times bestselling author Wendell Potter . A former health insurance e...

This time on Code WACK!  Healthcare premiums aren't the only costs going up. Your pocketbook is also getting hit with higher out-of-pocket costs - like deductibles, co-pays, and coinsurance - often under the radar. How is this hidden cost crisis affecting families - and what can be done about it? We spoke with New York Times bestselling author and leading healthcare reform advocate Wendell Potter...

This time on Code WACK!  Privatized Medicare now covers more than half of older adults nationwide. But how do Medicare Advantage plans' lower star ratings, narrow networks, and "paper benefits" hit seniors of color hardest- and why are hospitals dropping these plans, leaving patients scrambling for care?  Our guest is Dr. Belinda McIntosh, an Atlanta-based psychiatrist with more than 20 years of e...

This time on Code WACK!  How does Medicare Advantage - also known as privatized Medicare - fail seniors … especially seniors of color? Why do many seniors find they actually have no other choice than an Advantage plan? What's the consequence of that lack of choice?  And how do Medicare Advantage insurance plans actually deepen racial and income disparities? To find out, we spoke with Dr. Belinda M...

This time on Code WACK!  This time on Code WACK! In celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we're rebroadcasting this episode examining how desegregation shaped the experiences of Black patients in America – and what still hasn't changed. What does racism in medicine look like today? To break it down, we spoke to Dr. Barbara Berney, project creator and producer of the documentary " Power to...