Health Policy Podcast

Dr. Jeremy Levin, author of 'Biotech in the Balance,' explains why small biotech firms—not Big Pharma—are the true engines of medical discovery. He discusses the sector's unique capital risks and the growing public distrust that threatens the future of American innovation.

Economist Wayne Winegarden joins the podcast to expose how the 340B Drug Discount Program evolved from a small safety net for rural clinics into a \$100 billion revenue engine for massive hospital systems. He explores how misaligned incentives drive up drug spending, fuel hospital consolidation, and why transparency is the first step toward reform.

Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) affects millions of Americans and carries significant personal, clinical, and economic consequences. In this episode of the Health Policy Podcast, host Bryan Hyde speaks with Dr. William Sauvé, Chief Medical Officer of Osmind, and Mark Desmarais, Principal at Health Management Associates, about new research examining the impact of TRD on patients and the health...

Drug policy analyst Layal Bou Harfouch discusses the unintended consequences of New Mexico's SB 42, which allows the state to mandate treatment or remove newborns based on substance exposure. She explores how centralized, one-size-fits-all mandates bypass clinical assessments and create dangerous disincentives for mothers seeking prenatal care.

Dr. Gail C. Christopher, Executive Director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity, discusses the "Momnibus" Act and the multi-decade effort to eliminate racial disparities in maternal health. She shares promising policy shifts, including the expansion of Medicaid coverage for doula services and the bipartisan momentum behind comprehensive birth equity.

Pete Sepp, President of the National Taxpayers Union, joins the show to discuss why healthcare costs remain high, unpredictable, and opaque. Sepp breaks down the perverse incentives across the industry—from site-neutrality issues and "pay and chase" government models to the bureaucratic overhead that consumes up to 30% of expenditures.

  On the Health Policy Podcast, attorney and mental health reform advocate Ellen Lubensky discusses her concerns about the use of psychiatric medications and the lack of informed consent in mental health care. Drawing from personal experience, she argues that patients are often prescribed medications during brief appointments without a full understanding of potential risks, including dependency an...

In this episode of the Health Policy Podcast, clinical pharmacist and MAHA Report contributor Amy Sapola discusses the growing recognition of sleep deprivation among adolescents as a structural public health issue. She explains how early school start times conflict with teenage circadian rhythms, contributing to widespread sleep deficits that impact academic performance, mental health, immune func...

In a wide-ranging discussion on the Health Policy Podcast, Mike Smith, President Emeritus at The Brokerage Inc., outlines how the Affordable Care Act expanded coverage to millions of previously uninsured Americans but failed to deliver on long-term affordability. Smith explains that while subsidies helped drive enrollment and improve access to care, rising base premiums and the expiration of enhan...

Ross Marchand, executive director of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, discusses his organization's report Blocking Breakthroughs, which examines FDA drug rejection rates. He said that regulatory barriers, shifting standards, and excessive risk aversion are delaying patient access to potentially life-saving treatments, even as other developed countries approve the same drugs.

Nurse practitioner and author Cynthia Thurlow discusses her transition from traditional allopathic medicine to a lifestyle-focused practice centered on perimenopause and menopause care. She explains the evolving role of nurse practitioners in the U.S. healthcare system, including their training, scope of practice, and ability to help fill gaps created by physician shortages.  Thurlow highlights ke...

  Emergency physician Dr. Colleen Smith discusses how government regulations and market distortions have contributed to the rise of large, vertically integrated healthcare corporations. In the interview, she explains how policies such as certificate-of-need laws, Stark regulations, and the structure of employer-based insurance have limited competition and consumer choice in healthcare. Smith argue...

Peter Mihalick, health policy and advocacy director for the International Hearing Society and a former congressional staffer, discussed the federal 340B drug discount program on a recent episode of the Health Policy Podcast, highlighting concerns about its rapid expansion and lack of oversight.  Mihalick explained that the program was originally designed to help safety-net providers serve low-inco...

Nathan Benefield, Chief Policy Officer of the Commonwealth Foundation, joins the Health Policy Podcast to examine whether the Affordable Care Act has achieved its core promise of lowering health care costs. Sixteen years after its passage, Benefield argues that rising premiums, expanded subsidies, and increased government spending have failed to reduce costs for families. The conversation explores...

Susan Goldhaber, writer for the American Council on Science and Health and a former EPA researcher, joins the Health Policy Podcast to examine the renewed debate over fluoride in drinking water. With decades of experience studying fluoride standards, Goldhaber explains the history of fluoridation — from early 20th-century dental discoveries to its adoption as a major public health measure after Wo...

On this episode of the Health Policy Podcast, Brian Hyde speaks with Pete Sepp, President of the National Taxpayers Union, about the accelerating financial crisis facing Medicare and other federal healthcare programs  Sepp outlines how Medicare Part A is projected to become insolvent in 2033—just one year after Social Security's trust fund is expected to fall short—triggering an automatic 11% cut...

On this episode of the Health Policy Podcast, Jennifer and Maya Reinhardt share their powerful story of battling cystic fibrosis and a life-threatening antibiotic-resistant infection. When traditional treatments failed and FDA barriers stood in the way, Jennifer fought to access bacteriophage therapy — an international treatment not approved in the United States at the time. The journey required e...

Joel White, president of the Council for Affordable Health Coverage, joins the Health Policy Podcast to discuss why health care costs continue to rise despite years of reform efforts. Drawing on his experience as former staff director of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee and co-author of the Health Savings Account law, White argues that market consolidation, regulatory complexity, and s...

On this episode of the Health Policy Podcast, Brian Hyde speaks with Brian Norman, Director of State Affairs at the Goldwater Institute, about the push to expand "Right to Try" laws to include individualized and gene-based treatments. Norman explains how the original Right to Try movement, signed into federal law in 2018, allowed terminally ill patients to access investigational drugs that had pas...

Dr. Valerie Fuller, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), joined the Health Policy Podcast to discuss a federal policy proposal that could have significant implications for the health care workforce and patient access to care across the country. AANP is the largest organization representing nurse practitioners in the United States. In January, the U.S. Department of...

Monique Yohanon, a physician and Senior Fellow for Health Policy at Independent Women, joined the Health Policy Podcast to discuss the FDA's newly released dietary guidelines and why decades-old recommendations were overdue for change. Yohanon explained how the traditional food pyramid and low-fat framework shaped American eating habits for more than 40 years, often with unintended consequences fo...

What does it say about a country's health system when chronic illness becomes normal in childhood? In this episode of the Health Policy Podcast, I sit down with Steve Cortes , former senior advisor to President Trump and a documentary filmmaker, to unpack the thinking behind the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement. Steve argues that the timing is no coincidence. He points to a convergenc...

Fred Roeder, health economist and managing director of the Consumer Choice Center, joined the Health Policy Podcast to explain why price transparency remains one of the biggest failures in the U.S. healthcare system. Roeder discussed how opaque hospital pricing leaves patients exposed to unexpected medical bills, even for routine procedures such as MRIs and lab work. During the conversation, Roede...

Jared Rhoads, Director of the Center for Modern Health, joins the Health Policy Podcast to discuss why healthcare has drifted away from free-market principles and why reform remains so difficult. Rhoads explains how healthcare evolved from an individual responsibility into a government-managed system, driving bureaucracy, compliance costs, and reduced innovation. He also outlines how a more market...

In this episode of the Health Policy Podcast, Ryan Ellis, president of the Center for a Free Economy, discusses the expiration of COVID-era Affordable Care Act subsidies and why he believes they should not be extended. Ellis explains how the ACA's design mandates limit competition, drive up insurance premiums, and distort the healthcare market. He also examines the political incentives behind cont...