Tradeoffs

As medical interns step into their new roles as doctors, one resident gives us a window into her experiences in a COVID ICU. [This episode was originally published on July 30, 2020.]  Guest: Tamar Pounardjian, MD Resident, Brown Medical School, Internal Medicine Residency Program Read a transcript of this episode: https://tradeoffs.org/2020/07/30/life-in-the-icu/ Sign up for our weekly newsl...

This summer, the Trump administration tried to roll back some federal protections for transgender patients. We look at the fight to secure health care for trans Americans and explore the extent to which policies designed to expand access have delivered on their promise. [This episode was originally published on July 14, 2020.] Guests: Kellan Baker , PhD, Centennial Scholar, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg...

We look back on some of the best health policy podcast episodes of the year with help from a few of our podcast host friends. Guests: Julie Rovner , host, What the Health, Kaiser Health News Dan Diamond , host, Pulse Check, Politico Laura Carlson , host, Prognosis, Bloomberg Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako , host, Flip the Script Alexandra Olgin , host, Gist Healthcare Daily, Gist Healthcare For a compl...

The Affordable Care Act is back in front of the Supreme Court. We explain the case and outline three ways this latest existential challenge to the law could end. Guest: Katie Keith , JD, Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown Law; Author of Health Affairs  “Following the ACA” Blog   For more on the latest challenge to the ACA and a complete transcript of this episode: https://tradeoffs.org...

From restricting abortion to legalizing marijuana, voters are weighing in on a variety of significant state health policy questions this election. (CORRECTION: An earlier version of this episode said Washington D.C. was considering “decriminalizing” psychoactive plants like mushrooms. They were in fact only considering  effectively  decriminalizing them by directing police to make enforc...

With COVID-19 again bearing down on U.S. hospitals, a team of military doctors and disaster preparedness experts are racing to build a system to deploy critical care providers anywhere in an instant. Guests: Col. Jeremy Pamplin, MD , Director, U.S. Army Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) Ben Scott, MD , Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, University of Colorado Doug...

With communities of color disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, drugmakers and public health officials are placing an unprecedented emphasis on diversity in vaccine clinical trials. Guests: Beau Garland , Vice President of Recruitment, Meridian Clinical Research Jonathan Jackson, PhD , Director, CARE Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital. For complete complete transcript of this conve...

The coronavirus pandemic forced public and private insurers to relax longstanding restrictions on telehealth, leading to a virtual care explosion. But how many of those changes are here to stay? Guest: Chad Ellimoottil , MD, Assistant Professor of Urology and Director of the Telehealth Research Incubator at the University of Michigan Read a transcript of this episode: https://tradeoffs.org/2020/10...

While the coronavirus pandemic has sucked up all the oxygen, the opioid crisis continues to get worse. Guest: Michael Barnett , Assistant Professor of Health Policy Management at Harvard School of Public Health; Primary Care Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Read a transcript of this episode: https://tradeoffs.org/2020/10/20/the-opioid-crisis-is-still-here/ Sign up for our weekly newslette...

One of Medicare's trust funds is set to run out of money within the next four years, but we've heard almost nothing about it the campaign trail. We explore what would happen, how it got this bad, and what can be done to fix it. Guest: Marc Goldwein , Senior Vice President and Senior Policy Director, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget Learn more about Medicare and read a transcript of this...

In the second installment of our Research Corner segment, health economist Sayeh Nikpay discusses two research papers about picking health insurance plans: why we're bad at it and why so many uninsured Americans who are eligible for low cost plans don't sign up. Featuring: Sayeh Nikpay , Associate Professor, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota For complete complete transcript of this...

More than 130 hospitals have closed in rural America over the last decade. Reporter Sarah Jane Tribble spent a year embedded in one small Kansas town as they dealt with their own hospital closure. Guest: Sarah Jane Tribble , Senior Correspondent, Kaiser Health News Read a transcript of this conversation: https://tradeoffs.org/2020/10/08/losing-a-hospital/ Hear more of Sarah Jane's reporting about...

As the Supreme Court begins a new term, all eyes are on the ACA. But lurking in the wonky backwaters is another case with big implications for state health innovations and regulations. Guest: Erin Fuse Brown , Associate Professor of Law; Director, Center for Law, Health & Society, Georgia State University For a complete transcript of this conversation: https://tradeoffs.org/2020/10/06/the-othe...

Although health care consumed nearly one-third of the first presidential debate, the conversation left a lot to be desired. We asked a couple of experts to outline the key health policy questions they wish the candidates had covered.  Amitabh Chandra , PhD, Ethel Zimmerman Wiener Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University Preeti Malani , MD, Chief Health Officer, University of Michigan Fo...

The 2020 election was supposed to be all about health care. Then 2020 happened. We check the latest polling on voters' attitudes on health care this election season. Guest: Ashley Kirzinger , Associate Director of Public Opinion and Survey Research, Kaiser Family Foundation Read a transcript of the episode and see chart's detailing KFF's latest polling on our website: https://tradeoffs.org/2020/09...

We ask the experts about Biden's plans to increase COVID-19 testing, shore up PPE and supply chains, and institute a national mask mandate. The seventh and final episode in a special two-week series on health care and the presidential election, examining the health policy goals, actions and impacts of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Guests: Brooke Nichols , PhD, Assista...

Joe Biden has big plans to build on the Affordable Care Act. How close will they get us to universal coverage? The sixth episode in a special two-week series on health care and the presidential election, examining the health policy goals, actions and impacts of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Guest: Christine Eibner , PhD, Senior Economist, RAND Corporation Explore...

What do experts think of President Trump’s response to COVID-19? And what do they think a second Trump term would mean for health policy? The fifth episode in a special two-week series on health care and the presidential election, examining the health policy goals, actions and impacts of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Guests: Ryan Levi , Producer, Tradeoffs Lanhee Chen...

President Trump has pushed to limit access to abortion and contraception coverage. What impacts have those moves had? The fourth episode in a special two-week series on health care and the presidential election, examining the health policy goals, actions and impacts of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Guest: Maya Manian , JD, Visiting Professor, American University Washi...

Has President Trump made any lasting changes to the Medicaid program? The third episode in a special two-week series on health care and the presidential election, examining the health policy goals, actions and impacts of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Guest: Robin Rudowitz , Co-Director, Kaiser Family Foundation Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured Explore the candida...

Lowering prescription drug prices continues to be one of President Trump’s top goals. What has he actually accomplished so far? The second episode in a special two-week series on health care and the presidential election, examining the health policy goals, actions and impacts of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Guest: Ben Ippolito , PhD, Resident Scholar, American Enterp...

What impact have Donald Trump’s policies had on the Affordable Care Act and the way health insurance works in the U.S.? The first episode in a special two-week series on health care and the presidential election, examining the health policy goals, actions and impacts of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Guests: Brian Blase , PhD, Former Special Assistant to President...

The pandemic is exacerbating longstanding mental health issues among health care providers. In part two of our series, we examine why more doctors don’t seek help, and the costly consequences that distress can have. Guests, Mona Masood, MO, founder, Physician Support Line Lotte Dyrbye , MD, MHPE, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota Katherine Gold, MD, Associate Professor, University of Michig...

The pandemic is taking a toll on providers' mental health. Today, the first of a two-part series that begins with an ER doctor on the frontlines in Arizona. Guest, Mara Windsor, DO, Emergency Medicine Physician For complete complete transcript of this episode: https://tradeoffs.org/2020/09/08/doctors-coping-with-covid-part-1/ And stay on top of all our coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and...

Surprise medical bills have become a major issue for Americans, but federal legislation to protect consumers continues to stall. Is Congress getting closer to halting this practice? Guest: Nicholas Bagley , Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor Learn more about how surprise bills work and proposals to curtail them, along with a transcript of the episode on our...