Code WACK!

What is the connection between colonization and the American healthcare system? How has systemic exploitation impacted the health of the most vulnerable among us?   How will our healthcare system respond to the new diseases climate change will bring? Could Medicare for All help? Join host Brenda Gazzar and guests Rupa Marya, MD and Raj Patel, PhD in this second podcast on their new book "Inflamed:...

Is there a link between inflammation of the Earth and inflammation in our bodies? What about the disparate impact of climate change on BIPOC communities? How are concepts like "choice" being weaponized to absolve our responsibilities to one other? Join host Brenda Gazzar and guests Rupa Marya, MD and Raj Patel, PhD in a wide-ranging discussion of their new book "Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Ana...

What if you got a really terrible diagnosis in your mid-40s? "Terrible" as in "unimaginably expensive?" "Terrible" as in "terminal?" Would you want to spend the time you have left on hold , searching for some kind of insurance for the chance to save or at least prolong your life? What are your options, really? Hear heart-failure patient Joel Sloan explain to host Brenda Gazzar what he's gone throu...

It's tough enough to be born with a genetic predisposition to heart disease. Tougher still to suffer advanced heart failure at 43. Then add in an HIV diagnosis and a hyper-fragmented healthcare system. What if your health plan won't pay for your heart transplant because of a pre-existing condition or some other reason? Join Joel Sloan and Brenda Gazzar as they delve into the disturbing details of...

How has America's lack of a national, coordinated response to COVID affected us? What about the attacks on America's public sector? Why did simply having to go to work turn out to be the single biggest issue Black Americans faced during the pandemic? Join host Brenda Gazzar and Chicago's own Dr. Linda Rae Murray, MD, MPH , as they take a deep dive on the structural reasons for America's fragmented...

How is racism baked into American society? What role has medicine played in propagating it?  How does racism in health care affect Black and indigenous peoples?  Listen as "full-time troublemaker"  Dr. Linda Rae Murray, MD, MPH, former Chief Medical Officer - Primary Care for the Cook County Bureau of Health Services and host Brenda Gazzar discuss the artificial separation between social, structur...

Does commercial health insurance - when it's actually affordable - even provide the kinds of coverage restaurant workers need to cope with backbreaking work and emotional abuse? Who would want to risk catching COVID to do a job that pays $2.13 an hour plus tips? Join Brenda Waybrant, union organizer and former long-time restaurant worker , and host Brenda Gazzar as they discuss how COVID was a wak...

What health challenges do restaurant workers face as a result of their work? How did they fare during COVID? Can most restaurant workers really afford to miss a shift due to illness? Join Brenda Waybrant , union organizer and former long-time restaurant worker in Nashville, and host Brenda Gazzar as they discuss how private health insurance - whether employer-sponsored or from the marketplace - re...

How do health insurance companies avoid insuring more costly patients?   What's a "trojan horse" when it comes to single-payer legislation? Does financing health care through an insurance system make sense? Join Dr. Stephen Kemble , practicing psychiatrist and past president of the Hawaii Medical Association, and Brenda Gazzar as they discuss one of the biggest challenges to winning Medicare for A...

What's long COVID like, after a year? How much does it cost to treat? Are some Americans still having to "stay married for the health insurance" - in 2021? What's one way Medicaid fails special needs kids? Listen as  Mariana Pineda , a New York teacher, mother of four and single-payer activist pulls back the curtain on the campaign for the New York Health Act. Why, on the heels of a devastating pa...

As if having Long COVID weren't enough, does America's broken healthcare system make things worse? Does the social safety net - meaning Medicaid, unemployment and disability insurance -   actually save us? Join Mariana Pineda , a New York teacher and mother of four, as she shares her COVID long-haul nightmare with host Brenda Gazzar . It was hard enough just trying to stay alive and keep her healt...

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 marketpl...

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 , health policy director for Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal discuss legislative strategies worth pursuing...

What's holding the U.S. back from implementing system-wide solutions to our healthcare woes? How do other countries rein in prescription drug prices? What are the 5 most important lessons about health care that the U.S. could learn from other wealthy nations?   Host Brenda Gazzar and her guest, Dr. Thomas Rice , health economist and Distinguished Professor at UCLA's Fielding School of Public Healt...

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...

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 hol...

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-...

For Mental Health Awareness month , this week's pod looks at how Medicaid Managed Care affects the availability of mental health services for low-income patients . Do corporate insurance industry practices, like preauthorization, complicate the treatment of mental health patients ? Dr. Stephen Kemble , psychiatrist and past president of the Hawaii Medical Association, and host Brenda Gazzar discus...

How do common health insurance industry practices affect doctors' ability to remain independent ? Can doctors stay in business when today's reimbursement rates in some specialties can be lower than they were 30 years ago ? What happens when billing-related administrative expenses are too high ? Dr. Nancy Niparko, a pediatric neurologist in the Los Angeles area, explains to host Brenda Gazzar how s...

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 properl...

How were everyday Americans affected when they lost their jobs and their health insurance during the pandemic? Is subsidized health insurance from Affordable Care Act marketplaces an answer, given out-of-pocket limits as high as $8,150 in 2020? Host Brenda Gazzar and Cathy Munzer , a fitness instructor living in Flushing Queens, discuss the fear and stress she felt when facing a medical emergency...

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 skeptic...

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...

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...