Tradeoffs

More than half of states — from deep blue California to solidly red Louisiana — want to bring Medicaid behind bars in hopes of saving the lives of people as they leave jail and prison. Guests: Lee Reed Shira Shavit , MD, Professor of Family and Community Medicine, University of California San Francisco; Executive Director, Transitions Clinic Network Jacey Cooper , Director, California Medicaid Pro...

A leading addiction expert explains how he’s driven by the memory of a friend who died, and why he believes giving data on the drug supply to people on the street is more important than using it to inform national drug policy. Guest: Nabarun Dasgupta , Epidemiologist, University of North Carolina Street Drug Analysis Lab and Opioid Data Lab Learn more and read a full transcript on our website . Wa...

Harrison Memorial Hospital in Cynthiana, Kentucky is already taking a hard look at its budget in light of Republican cuts to Medicaid. Here’s what that looks like. Guest: David Asher, Chief Strategy Officer at Harrison Memorial Hospital in Cynthiana, KY Learn more and read a full transcript on our website . Want more Tradeoffs? Sign up for our free weekly newsletter featuring the latest health pol...

How the federal government has restricted health care access for transgender Americans, and how those shifts in policy and rhetoric are changing life for one Alabama family. Guests: Orion Rummler , LGBTQ+ Reporter, The 19th Harleigh Walker Jeff Walker Learn more and read a full transcript on our website and see highlights from our conversation with Harleigh and Jeff Walker here . Want more Tradeof...

North Carolina’s former health secretary explains the heavy lift and hard choices ahead of states as they rush to put Republicans' new health reforms in place. Guest: Kody Kinsley , Senior Policy Advisor, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing; former North Carolina secretary of health and human services Learn more and read a full transcript on our website . Want more Tradeoffs? Sign up for our free week...

Health law expert Katie Keith helps us break down what a pair of big court decisions mean for RFK Jr.’s power and for people's access to abortion, cancer screening and many other kinds of care. Guest: Katie Keith , Director, Health Policy and the Law Initiative at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law Learn more and read a full transcript on our website . Want more Tradeoffs? Si...

On June 18, Tradeoffs moderated an online event with economists and doctors examining why this legislation could cost so many people their health coverage — or even their lives. Guests: Eric Roberts , Associate Professor, Department of General Internal Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine Aditi Vasan , Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine Rachel Werner , Exec...

The White House is asking Congress to sharply roll back federal spending on HIV prevention, a reversal from President Trump’s first term, when he championed investment to end the epidemic in America within a decade. Guests: Hana Fields , outreach manager, Health Outreach Prevention Education  Dr. Patrick Sullivan , professor of epidemiology, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health Br...

The Health and Human Services chief’s latest action on vaccinations is unprecedented, and quickly drew condemnation from medical groups who said his dismissal of the vaccine advisory committee put public health at risk. Here’s why the members of that committee are so important. Guest: Ron Balajadia, Hawaii Department of Health immunization branch chief Dorit Reiss , University of California, San F...

A Chicago violence prevention program is pairing cognitive behavioral therapy with intensive mentoring and wraparound support to help high-risk teens avoid incarceration. Guests: Nour Abdul-Razzak , Research Associate, University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy; Research Director, University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab Charles Branas , Professor and Chair, Department of Epidemiology...

Some patients’ lives are so complicated by trauma, poverty and other social problems that routine conditions like diabetes and asthma regularly turn into $10,000 hospital visits. America’s health care leaders have spent years trying to help this small but costly group of patients. What have they learned? Guests: Jeff Brenner , MD, CEO, The Jewish Board Arthur Brown, Client, Camden Coalition Amy Fi...

As Republicans consider major changes to Medicaid and Obamacare, we asked a leading economist about the shockwaves these sharp policy shifts could send throughout the entire health care system. Guests: Jonathan Gruber , Ford Professor of Economics, MIT Learn more and read a full transcript on our website . Want more Tradeoffs? Sign up for our free weekly newsletter featuring the latest health poli...

Why are a handful of sheriff’s departments in California refusing to respond to some 911 calls that involve a person with mental illness? Guest: Lee Romney , Journalist and co-host of  November In My Soul Learn more and read a full transcript on our website . Check out Lee's full coverage for CalMatters. Be sure to listen to Tradeoffs special series The Fifth Branch that examines what it look...

Guests: Torie Bosch , Editor, First Opinion, STAT News Michelle Taylor , Shelby County Division Director for Health Services, Shelby County, Tennessee Raynard Washington , director of Mecklenburg County Public Health, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Learn more here . Want more Tradeoffs? Sign up for our free weekly newsletter featuring the latest health policy research and news. Support this ty...

Katherine Wells, the public health director in Lubbock, Texas, describes her fight to stop a multi-state measles outbreak despite a chaotic reorganization of federal health agencies. Guest: Katherine Wells, Director, Lubbock Public Health Want more Tradeoffs? Sign up for our free weekly newsletter featuring the latest health policy research and news. Support this type of journalism today, wit...

We talk with Harvard researcher Ari Ne’eman about why the sharp policy shifts underway in Washington pose a unique threat to people with disabilities.  Guest: Ari Ne’eman , Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Learn more and read a full transcript on our website . Want more Tradeoffs? Sign up for our free weekly newsletter featuring th...

Work requirements led to thousands in Arkansas losing their Medicaid during the first Trump administration. Policymakers say they’ve learned lessons to avoid mistakes this time. Guests: Trevor Hawkins , former Staff Attorney at Legal Aid of Arkansas Angela Rachidi , Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute Ray Hanley , former CEO of the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care Barbara Sears Roshon...

The latest threat to the Affordable Care Act could strike down a popular provision that gives 180 million Americans access to free preventive care for conditions including HIV and cancer. Guest: Nicholas Bagley , JD, Professor of Law, University of Michigan Learn more and read a full transcript on our website . Want more Tradeoffs? Sign up for our free weekly newsletter featuring the latest health...

Two months on the job, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has plowed forward with mass firings, funding cuts and new policies. The most immediate effect is across state and local health agencies, where officials say they see new cracks in safeguards against diseases. Guests: Dr. Phil Huang , director, Dallas County Health and Human Services  Ryan Jury, acting senior dep...

Veteran health care reporter Julie Rovner breaks down the massive cuts and reorganization at HHS and answers listeners’ questions about what to expect next. Guest: Julie Rovner , Chief Washington Correspondent, KFF Health News Learn more and read a full transcript on our website . Want more Tradeoffs? Sign up for our free weekly newsletter featuring the latest health policy research and news. Supp...

Medicare often pays clinics owned by hospitals double the amount it pays independent clinics for the exact same medical care. Ending that practice could save the federal government up to $150 billion over 10 years, but critics say it could push rural hospitals over the brink. Guests: Tim Rye, chief strategic development officer, Peterson Health  Carrie Cochran-McClain , chief policy officer,...

A closer look at the surgeon-turned-TV-star President Trump wants in charge of Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare. Guests: Tara Bannow , Reporter, STAT News Tom Scully , CMS Administrator (2001-2004) Learn more and read a full transcript on our website . Want more Tradeoffs? Sign up for our free weekly newsletter featuring the latest health policy research and news. Support this type of journalism t...

A candid conversation between a professor and a Ph. D. candidate about potential NIH funding cuts and their impact on the future of medical research. Guests: Yvonne Commodore-Mensah , Associate Professor, Associate Dean of Research, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Laura Mata López , PhD Candidate, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Learn more and read a full transcript on our website . Want more Trad...

As adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities strive to live more freely and fully than ever before, many of America’s doctors, hospitals and insurers are getting in the way. We get an inside look at one doctor’s quest to improve health care for people with conditions like Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy and autism. Guests: Alison Barkoff , JD, Administration for Community Living, HHS K...

New research sheds light on how many hospitals are using artificial intelligence, what they’re using AI for, and what it means for patients and policymakers. Guest: Paige Nong , PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota School of Public Health Learn more and read a full transcript on our website . Want more Tradeoffs? Sign up for our free weekly newsletter featuring the latest health polic...