Tradeoffs

One of my favorite weekly podcasts. They go in-depth on an important health policy issue in every episode. Tradeoffs’ reporting is particularly important in our current time of uncertainty about insurance costs and coverage. They cover federal policy regularly but also go to the state and even local level when needed. The show has a social justice angle too, highlighting underinsured and/or uninsured populations.

The episode on USAID cuts is superb. Every American with a heart should listen to this first-hand explanation of how the cuts are impacting global health now, with implications for future US health. In surgery, a scalpel is more useful than a buzzsaw.

I love the health policy “sensemaking” by way of stories! Very timely discussions. Very authentic stories. And not afraid to touch on the controversial aspects of health policy. One of my fave podcasts of all time!

I went back and actually re-reviewed the New England Journal paper. If you see the population that they enrolled using the lottery, this was a healthy population to start with. They did not have hypertension, and they had no diabetes. It would’ve been very unlikely that Medicaid would’ve made them healthier. Also note they were only 10% African-Americans. This is a bio study from a relatively healthy. Population and should not be used to judge whether Medicaid makes people healthy or not. I would’ve appreciated if the podcast had pointed this out. There was still time to rescue yourself.Please amend.