The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David Introcaso

David Introcaso, Ph.D.
  • 4.1 (65)
  • Government

Podcast interviews with health policy experts on timely subjects. The Healthcare Policy Podcast website features audio interviews with healthcare policy experts on timely topics. An online public forum routinely presenting expert healthcare policy analysis and comment is lacking. While other healthcare policy website programming exists, these typically present vested interest viewpoints or do not combine informed policy analysis with political insight or acumen. Since healthcare policy issues are typically complex, clear, reasoned, dispassionate discussion is required. These podcasts will attempt to fill this void. Among other topics this podcast will address: Implementation of the Affordable Care Act Other federal Medicare and state Medicaid health care issues Federal health care regulatory oversight, moreover CMS and the FDA Healthcare research Private sector healthcare delivery reforms including access, reimbursement and quality issues Public health issues including the social determinants of health Listeners are welcomed to share their program comments and suggest programming ideas. Comments made by the interviewees are strictly their own and do not represent those of their affiliated organization/s. www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

  1. 6d ago

    John McDonough Discusses His Just-Published Book, “America’s Wrong Turn, US Health Care in the Neoliberal Era” (350th Interview)

    Beginning in the 1970s and 1980s (think, e.g., Hayek, Friedman, Reagan, Stockman and Clinton), US policymakers decided healthcare should be defined like any other commercial or market commodity. It’s not, think: Ken Arrow. Therefore, national policymakers under the mantra of the financialization of everything or privatization included healthcare (think: Medicare Advantage); largely per Robert Bork’s book, “The Anti-Trust Paradox” policymakers freed healthcare of anti trust enforcement and increasingly deregulated healthcare (think: the employer-sponsored insurance (EIS) system). Today, US healthcare is arguably the largest industry in the world’s largest economy, with a ~$7.5 trillion market cap, and is highly concentrated. As Prof McDonough cites, “America’s health care crisis is,” per Phil Longman, “brought to you by monopoly.” Think: UNH that controls approximately 2,700 global subsidiaries and affiliates. We know the results. In his introduction Professor McDonough appropriately cites Maya Angelou’s observation, “if you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you are going.” Possibly more optimistic, James Baldwin phrased the idea as, “If you know whence you came, there is really no limit to where you can go." One can hope. Information regarding “America’s Wrong Turn” is at: https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/53872/americas-wrong-turn?srsltid=AfmBOoqNV4mGGs9z2P9ym233e-Bsp4EBV3SAAvJKYm2RTAKtcuAk1afm. Prof McDonough’s Harvard Chan School of Public Health website page is at: https://hsph.harvard.edu/profile/john-e-mcdonough/. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

    John McDonough Discusses His Just-Published Book, “America’s Wrong Turn, US Health Care in the Neoliberal Era” (350th Interview)

  2. Aug 12

    Ken Terry Discusses His Just-Published Book, "Beyond Medicare for All: Cracking the Code of Healthcare Affordability"

    With the Congress adjourned for summer recess and the mid-terms now 83 days away, August is a good time to discuss substantive or systematic HC reform. Listeners, and/or anyone paying attention to mid-term campaigns and primaries (think: Dr. Abdul El-Sayed) are well aware healthcare is again on life-support largely due to increasing unaffordability and political acquiescence. In “Beyond Medicare for All,” Mr. Terry essentially argues healthcare can be achieved without dismantling private insurance or expanding single-payer government health delivery by creating a bifurcated or two-tiered delivery and financing model that would be led in part by independent primary care physicians. Information about Ken Terry’s is at: https://kevinmd.com/post-author/ken-terry Information about “Beyond Medicare for All” is at: https://physicianledreform.com/ . This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

    Ken Terry Discusses His Just-Published Book, "Beyond Medicare for All: Cracking the Code of Healthcare Affordability"

  3. Aug 2

    Turquoise Health's Chief of Staff Ms. Carol Skenes Discusses Hospital Price Transparency

    As everyone is well aware, healthcare, particularly acute care (think: hospitals) has become increasingly more unaffordable. For the four-year period ending next year ERISA or employer-sponsored health insurance plans will increase employee premiums by ~25%; this year the average employee family premium is ~$27,000; by the end of this year six million are expected to lose ACA coverage; and, to really on one’s surprise a recent survey found less half of Americans, regardless of income, believe they have the ability to pay for needed medical visits. The answer seems to be legislating hospital price transparency. Earlier this month both the House Energy and Commerce and the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) committees passed price T bills out of committee. Regarding the Senate effort, HELP Committee Chair, Dr. Bill Cassidy, stated, “I'm very optimistic that it will pass . . . and I'm confident that it will." Information on Turquoise Health is at: https://turquoise.health/patients. Testimony presented during the June 10 House E&C hearing noted during this interview is at: https://democrats-energycommerce.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/hearing-lowering-health-care-costs-all-americans-examining-policies. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

    Turquoise Health's Chief of Staff Ms. Carol Skenes Discusses Hospital Price Transparency

  4. Jul 14

    Ms. Elena Mihaly Discusses Vermont's Climate Superfund Legislation

    In May 2024, Vermont enacted entirely unprecedented legislation that attempts to mitigate climate-charged disaster events and associated financial fallout inflicted on Vermont residents. Vermont climate superfund legislation, followed seven months later by New York (and presently pursued by at least ten other states), is in response to climate-charged disaster events that over the ten- yr period ending in ’25 cost Vermonters upwards of ~$2 billion. The legislation, premised on a deeply entrenched polluter pay principle, e.g., modeled after the federal toxic waste Superfund program, requires so called carbon majors, here oil and gas companies, to meet their unpaid, externalized costs by making compensatory payments. New York law is targeting a $75 billion fund. These dedicated funds will generally finance climate adaptation and infrastructure resiliency. Not surprisingly, these laws face of aggressive legal challenges by among others the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, West Virginia-led state attorneys general and the Trump administration that has filed federal lawsuits against both VT and NY. Among numerous related interviews, listeners will recall I discussed advances in attribution science with Stanford’s Chris Callahan in May 2025. Information re: Vermont’s Climate Superfund Act is at: https://climatechange.vermont.gov/climate-superfund. Information re: Vermont’s Conservation Law Foundation is at: https://www.clf.org/serving-new-england/vermont/. (Apologies to Ms. Mihaly, at one point I call her Emily!?!) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

    Ms. Elena Mihaly Discusses Vermont's Climate Superfund Legislation

  5. Jul 11

    HHS's Failure to Decarbonize the US Healthcare Industry (Part 2)

    During this podcast I read part two of a draft, yet-to-be-published essay titled, “Institutional Betrayal: HHS and the National Academy of Medicine’s Failure to Decarbonize the US healthcare Industry.” That the window formally closed in January 2025 means healthcare will not approach reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in 2030. HHS will continue to intentionally fund the industry’s harm-treat-harm business model meaning healthcare is by design traumatic. Iatrogenesis is built-in. Americans will become increasingly consumed by, not consumers of, healthcare. Comments are of course welcomed. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

    HHS's Failure to Decarbonize the US Healthcare Industry (Part 2)

  6. Jun 29

    HHS's Failure to Decarbonize the US Healthcare Industry (350th Podcast)

    During this podcast I read part one of a draft, yet-to-be-published essay titled, “Institutional Betrayal: HHS and the National Academy of Medicine’s Failure to Decarbonize the US healthcare Industry.” That the window formally closed in January 2025 means healthcare will not approach reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in 2030. HHS will continue to intentionally fund the industry’s harm-treat-harm business model meaning healthcare is by design traumatic. Iatrogenesis is built-in. Americans will become increasingly consumed by, not consumers of, healthcare. Comments are of course welcomed. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

    HHS's Failure to Decarbonize the US Healthcare Industry (350th Podcast)

  7. Jun 29

    HHS's Failure to Decarbonize the Healthcare Industry (350th Podcast)

    This is the first of a two-part reading of a yet-to-be-published essay presently titled, “Institutional Failure: HHS and the National Academy of Medicine’s Failure to Decarbonize Healthcare.” Comments are of course welcomed. Thank you. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

    HHS's Failure to Decarbonize the Healthcare Industry (350th Podcast)

  8. Jun 6

    Ms. Jessica Forden Discusses Dr. Teresa Ghilarducci's Recently-Published Book, "Work, Retire, Repeat, The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy"

    Unlike most rich countries or advanced economies the US does not define healthcare, including long term care, as a universal social risk – despite the fact we all get sick, no one knows their health status tomorrow, approximately 85% of Medicare beneficiaries have at least one chronic condition and life expectancy at birth is approximately 79 years. Medicare does not provide long term care, Social Security replaces just 43% of the average workers’ wages and only approximately 40% of retirees receive income from some form of employer or personal retirement plan. With me to discuss Prof. Ghilarducci’s book is her colleague Ms. Jessica Forden an economics Ph.D. candidate at the New School’s Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. Information on Prof. Teresa Ghilarducci’s book is at: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo212888995.html. The New School’s Schwartz Center for Economic Policy (SCEPA) research publications are at: https://www.economicpolicyresearch.org/research. Jessica Forden’s LinkedIn page is at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-forden-88b265131/. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

    Ms. Jessica Forden Discusses Dr. Teresa Ghilarducci's Recently-Published Book, "Work, Retire, Repeat, The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy"
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About

Podcast interviews with health policy experts on timely subjects. The Healthcare Policy Podcast website features audio interviews with healthcare policy experts on timely topics. An online public forum routinely presenting expert healthcare policy analysis and comment is lacking. While other healthcare policy website programming exists, these typically present vested interest viewpoints or do not combine informed policy analysis with political insight or acumen. Since healthcare policy issues are typically complex, clear, reasoned, dispassionate discussion is required. These podcasts will attempt to fill this void. Among other topics this podcast will address: Implementation of the Affordable Care Act Other federal Medicare and state Medicaid health care issues Federal health care regulatory oversight, moreover CMS and the FDA Healthcare research Private sector healthcare delivery reforms including access, reimbursement and quality issues Public health issues including the social determinants of health Listeners are welcomed to share their program comments and suggest programming ideas. Comments made by the interviewees are strictly their own and do not represent those of their affiliated organization/s. www.thehealthcarepolicypodcast.com

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