The Business of Healing

Medicare Advantage vs Original Medicare: What seniors need to know before choosing coverage. In this comprehensive episode, we break down the critical differences between Medicare Advantage (Part C) and Original Medicare, exposing the hidden costs, network restrictions, and prior authorization requirements that affect over 31 million Americans. Discover why major hospitals like Mayo Clinic are dro...

How American Healthcare Became an Accidental System: The Untold History of HMOs, PPOs, and Academic Medicine Ever wondered why healthcare in America feels so complicated? This episode reveals the surprising truth: nobody actually designed our current system. We trace the fascinating origins of health insurance back to the Great Depression, when desperate hospitals invented prepaid plans just to su...

The Minnesota Medical Center Puzzle: A Billion-Dollar Governance Knot No One Can Untie How did three nonprofits, a state university, a hospital system, and a physician group, become so financially entangled that none can survive without the others, yet none can agree on who should lead? This deep-dive investigation unpacks the 28-year saga of Minnesota's M Health Fairview partnership, where $500 m...

The Hidden Hospital: Power, Money, and the Fight for Academic Medicine When you see "University of Minnesota Medical Center" above a hospital entrance, you assume it's where the state's brightest medical minds teach, research, and heal. But what if that prestigious name is just branding, and the reality underneath is far more complicated? In this episode, we investigate a 30-year power struggle th...