This time on Code WACK!  

How does running a hospital like a business run counter to providing reliable and affordable healthcare? How would having Medicare for All change the way hospitals are financed and what would it mean for patients, doctors, and the hospitals themselves? 

To find out, we spoke to Dr. David Himmelstein, a distinguished professor of public health at CUNY's Hunter College and a lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

He also serves as a staff physician at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and is the co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program. This is the second of a two-part series with Dr. Himmelstein. 

Check out the Show Notes and Transcript for more!

What's the story behind the EMTALA patient protection law of 1986, which requires hospitals to stabilize or treat patients who are in a health emergency regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay?

What has this law done for patients and what does it mean for hospitals?

How does the current way hospitals are paid incentivize them to pass the buck on uninsured patients?

To find out, we spoke to Dr. David Himmelstein, a distinguished professor of public health at CUNY's Hunter College and a lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School. He also serves as a staff physician at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and is the co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program.

This is the first of a two-part series with Dr. Himmelstein. 

Check out the Show Notes and Transcript for helpful links and more!

What if you don't have health insurance but need medical care to save your life? If you're drowning in bills from the hospital, what can you do?

To find out, we spoke to Venus Lockett, a financial services professional who lives near Atlanta. After an ambulance ride, one night in the hospital and multiple tests, she faced over $30,000 in medical bills while she was in-between jobs, uninsured and living in Georgia, one of 12 states that still has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

Find out what Venus did to get out from under those crushing bills and save her credit rating. Learn how to protect yourself with the Consumer Guide for Medical Bills and Debt, published by the nonprofit consumer protection organization Georgia Watch.

This time on Code WACK!  

How do people get into medical debt in the first place? Sometimes it can happen when a business reorganization turns employees with benefits into contractors with no benefits. Or maybe you live in one of the 12 states that did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act? 

To find out, we spoke to Venus Lockett, a financial services professional who lives near Atlanta. Learn what happened when Venus’s health took a bad turn while she was uninsured, and nearly $31,000 in medical bills came rolling in. 

Does it really make sense to have a healthcare system with no caps on patient costs? And can anyone honestly say that employer-sponsored coverage is “best” when the business sector is often in flux, whether from recession or pandemic?

Check out the Show Notes and Transcript for more!

This time on Code WACK!  What’s the latest threat to original Medicare? What could happen if we link health outcomes to physician compensation? How is it that a whole new program affecting millions of Americans on original Medicare can be rolled out without congressional oversight? 

To find out, we spoke to the new president of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), Dr. Philip Verhoef, an adult and pediatric intensivist and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.

Learn more about the new program called ACO REACH, and the issues it raises around physician compensation. Could ACO REACH threaten the trust between patients and their doctors? 

Check out the Show Notes  and Transcript for helpful links and more!

This time on Code WACK!  What say should doctors have in reforming America’s healthcare system? Are their decades-long efforts to stop the commercialization of medicine having an impact? How can health professionals, and students in the health sciences, get involved in the movement for single-payer health care? 

To find out, we spoke to the new president of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), Dr. Philip Verhoef, an adult and pediatric intensivist and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.

Find out the main strategies, goals and challenges of PNHP, the only single-issue physician led organization advocating for Medicare for All in America. And learn about the growing influence of Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP) in the single-payer movement. 

Check out the Show Notes  and Transcript for helpful links and more!

And you like our work, please support us with a donation! We are a 501c3 and your gift is tax-deductible. 

This time on Code WACK!  At least 20 legislative bills targeting transgender medical care were pre-filed in at least nine states for 2023, according to The Hill. And last year, more than two dozen states sought to enact measures to ban or severely restrict access to gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth. 

To learn more about the challenges transgender individuals face when seeking such treatments, we spoke to Jeffrey Rodriguez, the director of Community Health Programs at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. He’s worked there for over 12 years, mainly in sexual health and education.

Check out our website,  Show Notes  and Transcript for helpful links and more! 

And if you want to hear more stories like this, please donate to support our work!

This time on Code WACK! What would you do if you were faced with thousands of dollars of medical debt? Would you file for bankruptcy or let the debt go to collections? What help is out there for people facing such difficult dilemmas?

Would Medicare for All protect patients from the hassles and financial burdens that face ill patients today? 

To find out, we spoke with Monique Davis, a nonprofit executive in Southern California, who, during midlife, faced an unexpected diagnosis with a rare and potentially deadly disease. This is the second of two episodes featuring Monique's harrowing story. 

Check out the Show Notes and Transcript for background info and more!

Can you count on your health insurance when you need it? What if you and your spouse are "double-covered?" What are your options when medical debt is dragging you down?  And if you can't pay, what happens after you get well and start looking for a new job?

To find out, we spoke with Monique Davis, a nonprofit executive in Southern California, who, during midlife, faced an unexpected diagnosis with a rare and potentially deadly disease. How did her HMO respond when claims for chemotherapy, medical equipment, multiple ambulance rides and a stem cell transplant came rolling in?  

Monique says her survival is a miracle and her treatments were arduous. . . Did dealing with the claims really have to be so hard?

Check out the Show Notes and Transcript for background info and more!

Why does America STILL have a healthcare system with so many cracks to fall through? A routine job change, a move, or a divorce can trigger a change in health insurance eligibility, premiums, out-of-pocket costs, provider networks, etc. What's the true cost of our fragmented, bureaucratic and for-profit healthcare system?

To find out, we spoke to Scott Desnoyers, an anguished New York father who says he lost his son over a $20 insurance premium. Listen as Scott bears witness to the terrible toll a change in Medicaid eligibility took when his son Danny got a new job. 

When it comes to health insurance, a misunderstanding can have severe consequences. What can we expect when federal rules that have protected Medicaid eligibility during the COVID pandemic change later this year for some 15 million people ?

Check out the Show Notes and Transcript for background info and more!