In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha spotlights a striking new number: a 15% expected median increase in ACA health insurance premiums by 2026, with even steeper out-of-pocket costs if enhanced federal subsidies expire. He then reviews a study on California’s transition to zero-emission vehicles, showing real-world health benefits of electric cars. Dr. Shankar Sundaram, Director of the Bioresiliency Incubator at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, joins to explore the convergence of AI and biology, supercharged by advances in computing, as well as the associated benefits and risks.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• Individual market insurers requesting largest premium increases in more than 5 years — Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker
• California's early transition to electric vehicles: Observed health and air quality co-benefits — Science of the Total Environment

Dr. Shankar Sundaram currently serves as the Director of the Bioresiliency Incubator at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and was formerly the senior director of global health security and biodefense at the White House. In his current capacity, he leads the laboratory’s bioengineering strategy and technology development activities that address critical challenges in health and biosecurity. He also serves on the LLNL leadership team that oversees lab programs in biosciences and bioengineering.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Music by Katherine Beggs, additional music by Lulu West and Maya Polsky

In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha highlights increasing denial rates by health insurers for drug prescriptions, a sharp rise driven in part by expensive GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and weight loss. He then unpacks a JAMA study tracking U.S. healthcare spending by condition and county, with wide geographic spending variations driven as much by prices as by disease burden. Distinguished Senior Fellow Nikki Romanik joins to discuss the concept of a BioRadar system — city-level pilots integrating environmental, clinical, and behavioral data to establish biological baselines and detect unknown threats early.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• Health Insurers Are Denying More Drug Claims, Data Shows — New York Times
• Tracking US Health Care Spending by Health Condition and County — JAMA

Dr. Nikki Romanik is a Distinguished Senior Fellow in Global Health Security at the Brown University School of Public Health. She previously served as the former Special Assistant to the President, Deputy Director and Chief of Staff for the Inaugural Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy at the White House. With over 15 years of experience at the forefront of national and international public health initiatives, Dr. Romanik has been dedicated to mitigating biological threats, strengthening pandemic preparedness, responding to outbreaks and pandemics, and ensuring global resilience in the face of public health crises. Prior to her service at the White House, she held senior leadership positions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, and the World Health Organization.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Music by Katherine Beggs, additional music by Lulu West and Maya Polsky

In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha spotlights a major shift in Medicare Advantage: UnitedHealth Group plans to drop 600,000 enrollees amid financial pressures, raising questions about the program’s size, costs, and overpayments. He then examines a new JAMA study on the VA Mission Act and its effects on access and quality of care for veterans. Dr. Richard Besser, pediatrician and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who served as CDC Director during the H1N1 pandemic, joins to reflect on the once-bipartisan spirit of public health and the challenges of rebuilding trust after COVID-19’s politicization.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• UnitedHealthcare to exit certain Medicare Advantage markets as costs balloon, impacting 600K enrollees — Fierce Healthcare
• Impact of the MISSION Act on Quality and Outcomes of Major Cardiovascular Procedures Among Veterans — JAMA

Dr. Richard Besser is president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), a position he assumed in April 2017 following a long career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at ABC News. A pediatrician by training, Dr. Besser leads the largest private foundation in the country devoted solely to improving the nation’s health. Before joining the Foundation, Dr. Besser served for eight years as chief health and medical editor for ABC News, and as a leader at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he worked for 13 years. He served as acting director of the CDC during the initial response to the H1N1 influenza pandemic.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Music by Katherine Beggs, additional music by Lulu West and Maya Polsky

In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha shares a striking data point: 46% of Americans believe a recent federal health bill will hurt them and their families. He then spotlights a new New England Journal of Medicine study showing that ivermectin reduced malaria infections by 26% in Kenyan children, underscoring its value for parasitic diseases. Chair of Health Services, Policy and Practice Dr. Ateev Mehrotra joins to discuss why telemedicine has fallen short of expectations and how changes to incentives and regulations could help it deliver on its promise of improved access and lower costs.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• KFF Health Tracking Poll: Public Views on Recent Tax and Budget Legislation — Kaiser Family Foundation
• Ivermectin to Control Malaria — A Cluster-Randomized Trial — New England Journal of Medicine

Dr. Ateev Mehrotra is the chair of the Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health. His clinical work has been both as a primary care physician and as an adult and pediatric hospitalist. Much of Dr. Mehrotra's research is focused on delivery innovations such as retail clinics, e-visits, and telemedicine, including their impact on quality, costs, and access to health care.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Music by Katherine Beggs, additional music by Lulu West and Maya Polsky

In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha shares a striking data point: 6.8 million veterans receive care each year through the VA Health System. He highlights a systematic review comparing the quality of care in VA versus non-VA settings, finding that VA care is generally as good or better compared to non-VA care. Senior Adviser to the Brown Pandemic Center Beth Cameron joins to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic and rapidly advancing technologies like AI and synthetic biology have elevated the urgency of biosecurity. She warns that despite the increasing risks of large-scale biological events—whether natural, accidental, or deliberate—the U.S. still lacks a cohesive, long-term strategy to address these threats.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• Veterans Health Administration (VA) vs. Non-VA Healthcare Quality: A Systematic Review — Journal of General Internal Medicine

Dr. Beth Cameron is a Senior Adviser to the Brown Pandemic Center and Professor of the Practice of Health Services, Policy and Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health. A national and global leader in health security, biosecurity, pandemic preparedness, biodefense, and combating bioterrorism, Dr. Cameron has worked at the highest levels over decades within and outside of government to facilitate change. She spent two tours as a Special Assistant to the President on the White House National Security Council staff, twice helping establish and lead the Directorate on Global Health Security and Biodefense, a role in which she served under three Presidents.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Music by Katherine Beggs, additional music by Lulu West and Maya Polsky

In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha unpacks the projection that the United States will spend $64.9 trillion on healthcare between 2025 and 2033. He highlights a major Danish study showing no link between aluminum in childhood vaccines and chronic diseases. Professor Erin Fuse Brown joins to explore whether the corporatization of healthcare—through private equity and profit-driven consolidation—can truly reduce costs without sacrificing care quality.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• National Health Expenditure Projections, 2024–33: Despite Insurance Coverage Declines, Health To Grow As Share Of GDP — Health Affairs
• Aluminum-Adsorbed Vaccines and Chronic Diseases in Childhood: A Nationwide Cohort Study — Annals of Internal Medicine

Erin Fuse Brown is a Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health. Her areas of research and expertise include health law and policy, health care finance, health care consolidation and prices, the Affordable Care Act, single-payer and public option health reforms, ERISA preemption of state health laws, consumer financial protections for patients against surprise medical bills and medical debt. She also serves as a consultant to the National Academy for State Health Policy to provide legal and policy resources and draft model laws for its Center for Health System Costs, funded by Arnold Ventures.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Music by Katherine Beggs, additional music by Lulu West and Maya Polsky

In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha explains the significance behind the largest U.S. measles outbreak in 25 years, with 1,288 confirmed cases as of last week. He then highlights a major new study tracking two decades of U.S. childhood health trends and rising deaths due to firearms, substance use and suicide. Senior Adviser to the Pandemic Center and former South African Member of Parliament Wilmot James joins to share his perspective on America’s retreat from global health leadership, the erosion of soft power and the risks of being seen as an unreliable partner.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• Measles: restoring confidence in vaccine information — BMJ
• Trends in US Children’s Mortality, Chronic Conditions, Obesity, Functional Status, and Symptoms — JAMA

Dr. Wilmot James, an internationally recognized thought leader in biosecurity, global health, and pandemic preparedness, is a Senior Advisor to the Pandemic Center and a Professor of the Practice of Health Services, Policy and Practice. Dr. James has served as Member of Parliament and Shadow Minister of Health in South Africa, and most recently held positions at Columbia University as Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy and as Chair of the Center for Pandemic Research.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Music by Katherine Beggs, additional music by Lulu West and Maya Polsky

In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha highlights the steep administrative costs of Medicaid work requirements and breaks down a new study estimating that U.S. foreign aid programs via USAID have saved 90 million lives in the past two decades, with an additional 14 million lives at stake by 2030 if funding cuts persist.

Professor of the Practice Stefanie Friedhoff joins to answer a timely question: How did we arrive at this moment of rampant public health misinformation? She explains how trust, online relationships, and unmet informational needs shape what people believe—and why traditional fact-based communication can fall short.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• Recent Experience Shows National Medicaid Work Requirements Would Create Enormous Administrative Inefficiencies — Health Affairs
• Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis — The Lancet

Stefanie Friedhoff is co-founder of the Information Futures Lab (IFL) and Professor of the Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health. She is a leading media, communications and global health strategist, and an expert at knowledge translation, information creation, and verification. From July 2022 to May 2023, Friedhoff served as a senior policy advisor on the White House Covid-19 Response Team, focusing on population information needs, health equity, community engagement, and medical countermeasure uptake. At Brown, Friedhoff studies information ecosystems and the relationships between information needs, information inequities, and health outcomes.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Music by Katherine Beggs, additional music by Lulu West and Maya Polsky

In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha illustrates the economic benefits of health insurance coverage and a new study linking adjuvanted vaccines for shingles and RSV to a lower risk of dementia. Senior Adviser to the Pandemic Center and former Gavi CEO Dr. Seth Berkley joins to discuss the consequences of the recent U.S. withdrawal of funding for Gavi, noting the cost-effectiveness of vaccines and the loss of vaccinations for 75 million children.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• Health insurance as a productive factor — Labour Economics
• Lower risk of dementia with AS01-adjuvanted vaccination against shingles and respiratory syncytial virus infections — npj Vaccines

Dr. Seth Berkley is a Senior Advisor to the Brown University Pandemic Center and a serial entrepreneur and pioneer in global public health for more than 35 years. From 2011 to 2023, he served as CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. During his tenure at Gavi, Berkley led a team that worked toward broadening global immunization access, resulting in more than half of the world’s children being vaccinated annually.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Music by Katherine Beggs, additional music by Lulu West and Maya Polsky

In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha discusses the effects of potential new rural hospital closures and a new study on an oral weight loss drug in patents with diabetes. Director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute Michael Cannon joins to examine whether expanding Medicaid actually improves health outcomes in the population — and why he believes the evidence is more uncertain than many might assume.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• Rural Hospitals at Risk of Closing — Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform
• Orforglipron, an Oral Small-Molecule GLP-1 Receptor Agonist, in Early Type 2 Diabetes — New England Journal of Medicine

Michael F. Cannon is the director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. His scholarship spans areas including public health, health insurance, international health systems, administrative law and political philosophy. Cannon was previously a domestic policy analyst for the US Senate Republican Policy Committee.

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.