Code WACK!

This time on Code WACK!

An estimated 5.7 million Americans are living with dementia in 2026, with that number expected to rise sharply as the population ages. And care isn't cheap. According to US News and World Report, it averages about $7,600 a month, more than $91,000 a year. For many, special care, especially 'memory care,' will be required at some point in their disease progression.

When an assisted living facility promises a patient specialized memory care, what exactly does that mean? What are patients and families actually being promised? And what happens when facilities can't deliver?

To learn more, we're speaking with Tony Chicotel, senior staff attorney with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, or CANHR. For decades, Tony has fought to protect the rights of long-term care residents.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation.

This time on Code WACK!

We're revisiting part 2 of a powerful 2024 series in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this September.

What justification did a major insurance company give to repeatedly deny coverage to treat a baby's brain tumor? What can be done to prevent these denials of life-saving treatment in the future? To find out, we spoke to Dr. Eunice Stallman, a psychiatrist in Idaho and mother of then two-year-old Zoey, who has suffered seizures and developmental delays because of a brain tumor discovered when she was an infant. This is the second episode in a two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!

This time on Code WACK!

About 15,000 children and teens are diagnosed with cancer every year in the United States. While survival rates have improved dramatically, cancer remains the leading cause of disease-related death among children.

This time on Code WACK!, we're revisiting a powerful 2024 episode in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month this September.

Imagine finding out that your baby girl has a brain tumor that's causing seizures and disrupting her development, and your insurance company is denying treatment her doctor says she needs to survive and thrive? Where did one mother turn for help when repeated health insurance denials delayed time-sensitive treatment to shrink her baby's tumor? To find out, we spoke to Dr. Eunice Stallman, a psychiatrist in Idaho and mother of Zoey, who was two years old at the time of this interview and is still undergoing medical treatment. This is the first episode in a two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!

This time on Code WACK! Labor unions have spent decades fighting to win good health benefits for their members. And by and large, they have succeeded. The 'union advantage' has been documented. Compared to non-union workers, union workers are more likely to have health insurance coverage… more likely to have a regular care provider…, and to have visited office-based providers 31% more often.

So why would union members want to give up their hard-won 'union advantage' for a completely different system? What might happen if organized labor began fighting not just for better health benefits for their union members, but for everyone? Could organized labor help lead America to a system where healthcare isn't tied to a job at all?

To discuss this and more, we welcome back Mark Dudzic, a longtime union organizer and labor activist. He's a former president of Local 8-149 of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, now part of the Steelworkers, as well as the OCAW District 8 Council, and a former national organizer of the Labor Party.

In 2009, he co-founded the Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare and currently serves as its chair. This is the second episode in a two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation.

This time on Code WACK!

In honor of Labor Day, we're looking at the powerful connection between work and healthcare in America — and what it means for workers when their health coverage is chained to their jobs. Against the backdrop of our ever-changing economy, we must ask, are the risks of employer-sponsored health insurance greater than the benefits?

Today's guest is Mark Dudzic, a longtime union organizer and labor activist. He's a former president of Local 8-149 of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, now part of the Steelworkers, as well as the OCAW District 8 Council, and a former national organizer of the Labor Party.

In 2009, he co-founded the Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare and currently serves as its chair.

This is the first episode in a two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation.

This time on Code WACK!

This time, we're taking a closer look at the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program. In a nutshell, the program gives hospitals and clinics that serve low-income and other vulnerable patients deep discounts on prescription drugs.

But who really benefits from these discounts? Patients? Or hospitals?

Did the legislation really intend that patients be charged coinsurance based on the full price of drugs that their hospital bought for far less?

Let's explore why consumer advocates say the program needs reform.

Today's guests are from the National Consumers League, Sally Greenberg, CEO and Lisa Bercu, Senior Director of Health Policy. The NCL is one of the nation's oldest consumer and worker advocacy organizations.

This is the second episode in a two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation.

This time on Code WACK! What is medical debt? Let's look at what it's not. It's not excessive spending on a pricey vacation, or on designer clothing or expensive watches. Medical debt usually happens when an unexpected accident or illness lands you in the emergency room or the hospital. Focus on the word 'unexpected.' Then add the word 'expensive.' Today we're talking about the hidden costs of getting sick in America, the patients whose lives have been upended by medical debt, and why the system is failing the people it's supposed to serve.

Joining us is Sally Greenberg, CEO of the National Consumers League, the nation's oldest consumer advocacy organization, working with both consumers and workers since 1899. This is the first of two episodes with Sally Greenberg.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation.

This time on Code WACK!

Got health insurance, but still can't get the care you need? Ever spent hours on hold, battling claim denials, and jumping through hoops just to get the care you already paid for with your insurance premiums?

What does it say about our healthcare system when getting treatment depends not just on your medical needs, but also on how much time, money, and energy you can dedicate to fighting for it?

In her new book, Coverage Denied: How Health Insurers Drive Inequality in the United States, Miranda Yaver points out that having insurance and actually being able to use it are often two very different things.

This is the second of two episodes with Miranda Yaver.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation.

This time on Code WACK!

We're talking about one of the most frustrating experiences in American healthcare - when your insurance company says 'no.' According to Miranda Yaver, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh, insurance denials aren't rare. They're a routine part of navigating our healthcare system.

In her new book, Coverage Denied: How Health Insurers Drive Inequality in the United States, Miranda Yaver explores what happens when patients undergoing treatment find themselves trapped between their doctors and their insurance companies.

This is the first of two episodes with Miranda Yaver.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation.

This time on Code WACK!

California has debated a single-payer healthcare system for decades, but a new UCLA report commissioned by the California Health and Human Services Agency under Senate Bill 770 could reshape the conversation. In this episode, Michael Lighty, president of Healthy California Now, explains how the report moves the debate from cost to equity.

This is the second of two episodes with Michael Lighty.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!

And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation.