Conversations on Health Care

We’re proud to serve as a forum for big health care policy discussions and the latest one may be the most heated ever. Our guests debate the pros and cons of Medicare for All, which would be a single-payer national health program that would fully cover medical care for all Americans (and make most private […] The post One of Our Most Heated Programs: Medicare for All’s Pros & Cons appeared first o...

What’s worrying voters? Health costs are tied with gas prices for the most important affordability issue, according to a new KFF Health poll. The research found that voters trust Democrats over Republicans to deal with health care costs by a nearly two-to-one margin. This is the backdrop for our Reporters’ Roundtable with the journalists who cover […] The post Reporters’ Roundtable: Julie Rovner,...

The environment for the use of psychedelics in psychotherapy is moving quickly.  In mid-September, the Food & Drug Administration held a hearing about potential future therapeutic use of psychedelics in supervised and supportive settings.  Psychedelic psychotherapy combines mind-altering substances like psilocybin or MDMA with talk therapy; researchers are studying it as a potential treatment for...

This week is the 17th anniversary of our first “Conversations on Health Care” and our guests have been part of the community health center movement before we even started our interviews. They have the battle scars that prove they know how to fight and win on behalf of community health centers. Now, they’re rallying the […] The post Community Health Center Legends Richard Bohrer & James W. Hunt, Jr...

The common speculation has been that GLP-1s would ultimately save patients and the entire health care system millions of dollars by reducing waistlines and the associated costs with obesity. But research found that during the first year, patients accumulated about $6,500 in GLP-1 spending, while their other medical spending increased by about $585. Much of […] The post High Cost of Losing Weight W...

“I’m quite frankly, flabbergasted…” That’s the reaction of Dr. Reed Tuckson to the White House’s recent decision on childhood vaccines. An Executive Order has called for separating the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into three different single-disease shots and giving all childhood immunizations at separate appointments when possible. Tuckson is the co-founder of both the […] The post Dr. Reed...

As we get ready to enjoy the Labor Day weekend, author Rowan Jacobsen is taking on dermatologists and the skin care industry. He explains that doctors have long told us to avoid sun exposure, in order to reduce rates of skin cancer. Yet the research indicates that moderate sun exposure leads to lower rates of many diseases, […] The post Here Comes the Sun — And Is Too Much Exposure a Worry? appear...

We’re about four months away from the beginning of the new federal Medicaid rules on Jan. 1 (although some states are allowed to implement them earlier). Earlier, we heard from an Administration leader on efforts to support states with getting the paperwork in order. Now, we have a guest providing a different perspective. Feygele Jacobs, […] The post Countdown to Crisis? The Looming Community Heal...

Some people are turning to TikTok and Instagram before seeing or even going to health care providers. Who are these online influencers and who is looking at their content? Pew Research Center identified 6,828 individuals with at least 100,000 followers on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram that regularly post about health and wellness and analyzed their social media […] The post Who Are the Health Influ...

This past July was the warmest month on record across the contiguous United States. That’s giving Dr. Lisa Patel and her colleagues even more urgency in their climate change awareness work.   Dr. Patel is the executive director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, which is focused on “mobilizing health voices for climate […] The post How Health Care Makes the Climate-Health Con...

When there’s a breaking health story, millions of people turn to CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Céline Gounder for her insights. Now, we’re learning about Dr. Gounder’s unique story, which includes co-founding International Health Group, which connects health care providers with opportunities to serve disadvantaged people around the world.  On the news beat, Dr. Gounder […] The post How Dr. Cé...

Dr. Elias Zerhouni, who used to lead the National Institutes of Health, has tough words for those trying to change some of its processes. He’s not in favor of a proposed rule that would switch who decides which federal grants get funded. “What’s the intent here? What’s the good that will come out of this? […] The post We Have to Fight Back’: Bush NIH Dir Dr. Zerhouni on Challengers appeared first...

Right now, the Moses/Weitzman Health System is focused on transforming primary care delivery nationally for the people who need it most.  But it all started over 50 years ago with Community Health Center, Inc. in Connecticut, and three young men who dreamed of making health care “a right, not a privilege.” “Conversations on Health Care” co-host Mark […] The post Which U.S. Senator in His Early 20s...

$100 billion. It’s a huge number but that’s the total amount the Trump Administration believes it can find in fraud across Medicaid and Medicare by 2029. The person helping lead that initiative is Stephanie Carlton, the deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She’s now directing efforts to make CMS an “AI […] The post Can AI Find Medicaid Fraud? That’s the Mission o...

As America celebrates its 250th birthday, it’s important to highlight what makes the country unique. Here’s an example: A group of concerned people set out over 50 years ago to build the community health center movement. Matt Vinikas is among the pioneers who poured his intellect and passion into what has evolved into the Community […] The post Insights & Inspiration: Building the Community Health...

As we celebrate America’s birthday, we should recognize that the founders also revolutionized public health when they formed the United States.   What influenced their thinking and how do these actions still affect health care today? Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter explore these questions with Jeanne Abrams, author of “Revolutionary Medicine: The Founding Fathers and Mothers […] The post...

“What is at stake is whether people stay alive, stay in care, stay on medications, stay virally suppressed…these cuts will reverse all the progress we’ve made to date toward ending the HIV epidemic.”  That’s the eye-opening view from Dr. Marwan Haddad as he assesses potential multi-million-dollar cuts to America’s HIV efforts. Dr. Haddad is the […] The post HIV Funding in Jeopardy: What’s at Stake...

When we first featured a guest discussing GLP-1 therapies, the public’s understanding of these drugs to treat obesity was still developing. In 2023, our expert was Dr. Jamy Ard, the then-incoming president of The Obesity Society. Even then, Dr. Ard was stressing that more choices would lower prices for consumers. We look back on that […] The post GLP-1 Therapies: Where We’ve Been & Where We’re Goi...

Guess what all the following have in common? They are all now available and widely used because of an important step lawmakers in Washington took over 45 years ago. Co-host Margaret Flinter says, “This is the biggest legislative success story that we’ve never heard of.” Join her and co-host Mark Masselli as they discover how […] The post How a Bill on Capitol Hill Spurred a Health Revolution appea...

In one month, we’ll celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. But among the fireworks and festivities, a serious point may get overlooked:  The founders also revolutionized public health when they formed the United States. What influenced their thinking and how do these actions still affect health care today? Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter […] The post Red, White & You: Your...

Researchers are “fetching” new discoveries about the incredible benefits pets and animals provide for human health. Steven Feldman, a proud feline father, is at the center of these efforts as the president of the Human Animal Bond Research Institute. “Most people probably have a feeling that their pets are good for them, and we’re the […] The post ‘Fur’ Our Health: New Pet-Human Bond Research appe...

Right before many of us get ready for a long weekend of hot dogs and potato chips, two health public policy experts are shaking up what we think we know about food. Study after study has found that ultra-processed foods are linked to “heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, depression, anxiety, and early death, even […] The post Hot Dogs, Jello, Waffle House: Time to Rethink ‘Bad’ Foods? appeared...

For more than five decades, Craig Robinson has helped shape the future of community health in West Virginia and beyond. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with the longtime executive director of Cabin Creek Health Systems to reflect on a career spent expanding access to care in rural communities, building innovative community health models, and […] The post How a West Virginia Community Healt...

The authors of a new book reveal that former President Obama told them that he had an “inability to boil issues down to their essence, to tell a story…” and explained how it hurt him as he tried to pass the Affordable Care Act. This insight and others are at the core of Dr. David […] The post What Fmr. President Obama Told Our Guests About His Big Health Care Misstep appeared first on Healthy Comm...

A nurse in a Baltimore laundromat might be testing one of the most important ideas in American health care: what if care started before you ever needed the emergency room? Organizations from NPR to the Milbank Memorial Fund are closely watching the Neighborhood Nursing program that the top-ranked Johns Hopkins School of Nursing has brought […] The post The Nurse at the Laundromat: An Innovative Mo...