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

About the Guest

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.

About the Host

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