This time on CodeWACK!

What challenges do employers face when providing health coverage to their employees? And what role do health insurers and Pharmacy Benefit Managers - prescription drug middlemen known as PBMs—play in shaping costs, coverage, and access to care?

To find out, we spoke with Chuck Melendi, who has more than three decades of experience in healthcare leadership, advocacy, and industry strategy. He spent 25 years at Johnson & Johnson, where he tackled issues including drug pricing, payer negotiations, policy, and commercial strategy.

Chuck retired from Johnson & Johnson in early 2025 and went on to launch Disruptive Dialogue, a podcast and consulting platform where he shares insights from inside the U.S. healthcare system – while exploring ideas for reform.

This is the first of a two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!

This time on CodeWACK!

Today, most people on Medicaid get their care through private insurers called Managed Care Organizations, or MCOs—like Aetna and UnitedHealthcare. Critics say these companies add layers of bureaucracy that make it harder for patients—most of them low-income—to get care. They discourage physicians from accepting Medicaid patients by making them jump through hoops to get treatment pre-authorizations, or even to get paid. Are Managed Care companies making health care more expensive, not less? How are some states reacting? Are legislators starting to wake up and see through the hype? Some are.

All this and more is discussed in a recent report from Physicians for a National Health Program, Removing the Middlemen from Medicaid. To unpack it, we spoke with Dr. Alankrita Olson—a public health physician and PNHP board member who advocates for a single-payer healthcare system.

This is the 2nd of 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 at heal-ca.org/donate.

This time on CodeWACK!

Why are there middlemen in Medicaid—and what are they doing to our most vulnerable patients and physicians? How and why are private insurance intermediaries permitted to put profits ahead of patients? A recent report by Physicians for a National Health Program, titled Removing the Middlemen from Medicaid, pulls back the curtain on Managed Care Organizations (MCOs).

To learn more, we spoke with Dr. Alankrita Olson, a public health physician and advocate for a universal single-payer system. She serves on the board of Physicians for a National Health Program and works to protect and expand healthcare access for all Americans. This is the first episode of 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 at heal-ca.org/donate.

This time on Code WACK!

We're taking a closer look at what happens when private equity buys hospitals. Our guest is Dr. Renee Hsia (pronounced "Shaw").

An emergency physician at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, Dr. Hsia explains how patients can be harmed when Wall Street firms take over health care. A Professor of Emergency Medicine and Health Policy at the University of California, San Francisco, she is also Vice Chair of Health Services Research in the Department of Emergency Medicine, and a core faculty member of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

This is part two of our two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!

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This time on Code WACK!

What happens to staff and patients when private investors buy hospitals to make them more profitable? And why should this concern us all?

To break it down, we spoke to Dr. Renee Hsia, an attending physician at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center and a Professor of Emergency Medicine and Health Policy at the University of California, San Francisco. She's also Vice Chair of Health Services Research in the Department of Emergency Medicine, and a core faculty member of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. This is the first episode in a two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!

Keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation.

This time on Code WACK!

Millions of Americans have health insurance, but still can't afford to use it. So what happens when high deductibles and corporate profit pressures shape the care patients receive?

To break it down, we spoke with Dr. Adam Gaffney - a pulmonary and critical care physician, public health researcher, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He's also a former president of Physicians for a National Health Program, and his work focuses on health care financing and national reform. This is the second episode in a two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!

Keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.

This time on Code WACK!

Why do Americans live about four years less, on average, than people in similar European countries, despite spending far more on health care? And why are so many dying from illnesses we already know how to prevent or treat?

To help us unpack this, we spoke with Dr. Adam Gaffney - a pulmonary and critical care physician, public health researcher, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He's a former president of Physicians for a National Health Program, and his research and advocacy focus on health care financing and national reform. He's also the author of To Heal Humankind: The Right to Health in History. This is part one of a two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!

Keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.

This time on Code WACK!

Why are people in America resorting to receiving medical care in animal stalls - even if they have health insurance? What would it take to make volunteer stopgap clinics unnecessary - and who stands in the way of real reform?

To break it down, we spoke with leading healthcare reform advocate and New York Times bestselling author Wendell Potter. A former health insurance executive turned industry whistleblower, Wendell now serves as board president of the Center for Health and Democracy, which advocates for healthcare reform, and editor-in-chief of HEALTHCARE Un-covered, which investigates healthcare corporations and insurance conglomerates. This is part two of a two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!

This time on Code WACK!

Healthcare premiums aren't the only costs going up. Your pocketbook is also getting hit with higher out-of-pocket costs - like deductibles, co-pays, and coinsurance - often under the radar. How is this hidden cost crisis affecting families - and what can be done about it? We spoke with New York Times bestselling author and leading healthcare reform advocate Wendell Potter. A former health insurance executive turned industry whistleblower, Wendell is now board president of the Center for Health and Democracy and editor-in-chief of HEALTHCARE Un-covered, which investigates healthcare corporations and insurance conglomerates. This is part one of a two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!

Keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.

This time on Code WACK!

Privatized Medicare now covers more than half of older adults nationwide. But how do Medicare Advantage plans' lower star ratings, narrow networks, and "paper benefits" hit seniors of color hardest-and why are hospitals dropping these plans, leaving patients scrambling for care?

Our guest is Dr. Belinda McIntosh, an Atlanta-based psychiatrist with more than 20 years of experience, Physicians for a National Health Program board member, and co-author of the PNHP report No Real Choices: How Medicare Advantage Fails Seniors of Color. This is part two of a two-part series.

Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!

Keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.