Corporatized healthcare increasingly views physicians as 'interchangeable workers' rather than the irreplaceable specialists they are. Many are turning to unions to strengthen their voice. Kelly Nedrow, a lawyer and senior advisor for health issues with the American Federation of Teachers, talks with us about how organizing in healthcare unions can help physicians strategize for shared governance and better work environments.

We're losing play in medicine. Why should that matter? Because play isn't immature, idle nonsense or about just blowing off steam in the moment. It has deeper roles in how we engage in groups, how we connect with each other, and how we process difficult situations.

In our version of a stock ticker, this new segment will get you up to speed on who's gone bankrupt, who's sold out, and any other juicy healthcare market news you need to know to be an informed participant in this thing called US healthcare.

It's all about the money... until it isn't. Ron Howrigon, a former health insurance executive with some of the largest insurance companies in the U.S., takes us behind the scenes to look at how these companies put profit over patients, why he left the business, and what he's doing now to help doctors fight the very industry he started in.

Medical practices around McAllen, Texas have been under a journalistic microscope for years. But no one knows what's happening on the ground better than the doctors themselves - especially those who are trying to build up, not tear down, their local medical systems. Dr. Carlos Cardenas, Chairman of the Board and Chief Administrative Officer at DHR Health in the lower Rio Grande Valley, joins us to talk about the challenges he faces in delivering patient care, and how he overcomes them.

Corporate practice of medicine laws are on the books, but the loopholes are widening and seemingly endless. Does legislation work? Or will CPOM forever find a work-around? To help sort this out, Matt and Wendy get wonky with Hayden Rooke-Ley, a federal judicial law clerk, a recent graduate of Stanford Law School, and Senior Fellow for Healthcare at the American Economic Liberties Project.

Brian Thompson's murder was shocking. But how much public hatred of the health insurance industry was smoldering just below the surface, was equally so. Wendy gives a powerful editorial on the events unfolding, and how schadenfreude is an attempt to restore moral balance that we condemn and dismiss at our peril.

The discussion about work structure in medicine can easily descend into a toxic altruism-fueled race to the bottom, but we think there's more to it. Matt and Wendy wrestle with whether the quest for a work-life balance should have more to do with how we work, rather than how long we work.

One year, 30+ episodes, thousands of downloads, dozens of guests, and countless f-bombs. We're celebrating our first anniversary in this special episode addressing listener emails, reviewing some of the most popular episodes in year one, and toasting the best part of our show: you.

The 2024 election is over. Navigating the results has just begun. Our advice? Ski the gaps.

To learn more about some of the ideas mentioned in this episode, check out Jennifer Pahlka on Substack, and Ezra Klein in the New York Times.