People around the world are living longer and healthier lives because of an innovative idea that became a global force for change. On this episode of Conversations on Health Care, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome back Dr. Sanjeev Arora, founder of Project ECHO, an approach that has already improved care for more than 200 million patients worldwide. Project ECHO was born from one question Dr. Arora asked himself more than 20 years ago: How do we make sure...

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Originally broadcast November 13, 2025 What if health care for moms and babies came with a cash prescription for them? In this Conversations on Health Care episode, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome back Dr. Mona Hanna, the Flint pediatrician whose research exposed the city’s water crisis and sparked a national reckoning on environmental justice. Now, Dr. Hanna returns to share powerful results from Rx Kids, the nation’s first community-wide prenatal and infant cash prescription program. By providing unconditional...

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Originally broadcast November 6, 2025 Intimate partner violence affects more women in the United States than breast cancer and diabetes combined. Health care providers can be a lifeline for survivors, yet many still struggle to know how to talk about it or where to begin. In this Conversations on Health Care episode, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Virginia Duplessis, associate director at Futures Without Violence and director of the National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence. Duplessis...

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Food insecurity could soon worsen for millions of families and result in devastating health outcomes. American Academy of Family Physicians CEO Shawn Martin joins hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter to discuss how the government shutdown is putting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in jeopardy. Beginning on Saturday, Nov. 1, food assistance could end for up to 22 million recipients. Martin and his 128,000 members are calling for bipartisan action to reopen the government and protect families from unnecessary...

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Originally broadcast June 5, 2024. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that several Southeastern states continue to report the highest rates of late-pregnancy fetal death in the country. This is the kind of research that energizes Nurse-Family Partnership supporters to build on their mission to positively impact and transform the lives of first-time moms and their babies through a proven home visiting model. The NFP model connects specially trained nurses with first-time mothers from...

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Veterans Day, which is less than a month away, is a time to honor and reflect on those who’ve served. Yet statistics reveal a troubling reality: Veterans are dying by suicide at 1.5 times the rate of the general population. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among veterans under 45. Craig Bryan, clinical psychologist, Iraq War veteran, and author of “Rethinking Suicide: Why Prevention Fails and How We Can Do Better,” joined hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret...

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Originally broadcast October 9, 2025 $44 billion in drugs that help Americans are purchased through a little-known federal discount program called 340B. The program is recognized for successfully helping hospitals, community health centers and others that fund care for low-income patients.   But that program is now facing big challenges from drugmakers, and the current government shutdown has brought new uncertainty. Reporter William Newton of 340B Report tells hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter that the shutdown has delayed approvals...

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Originally broadcast October 2, 2025 The federal government is shut down and the ripple effects are being felt. Legislation tied to the budget impasse also means Medicare telehealth flexibilities and the Acute Hospital Care at Home program expired early Wednesday morning. “Most providers and hospital systems are taking calculated risks to continue care during this time, but long-term continuity depends on action by our telehealth champions in Washington to restore these flexibilities and ensure retroactive reimbursement,” says Kyle Zebley, senior...

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Originally broadcast Tuesday, September 23, 2025 Happy anniversary to “Conversations on Health Care”! We posted our first program 16 years ago on Sept. 23, 2009. Now, we’re bringing back our first two guests to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going in health care. Nancy Pelosi was serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and trying to get the Affordable Care Act passed when she joined us on that inaugural show. Today, she continues to serve...

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Dr. Wayne Jonas, who formerly led the National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine, now directs the Healing Works Foundation, which has a mission to “make whole person, integrative care regular and routine.” “The data is very clear: most health does not come from going to your doctor and getting a diagnosis or treatment,” Jonas tells hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter. “The body is continually healing.” Jonas shares the story of a man he calls “Joe,” a grandfather...

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