Broadband connectivity and access has gained recent public attention due to the $65B carve out in Biden's $2Tr infrastructure plan. But for many Americans, it has been a persistent problem that has prevented them from elevating their work, education, and more recently health status. Broadband, as John likes to say, is a "Super Determinant of Health", impacting all aspects of a patient's relationship with our healthcare system. On this episode, John speaks with public health guru and broadband expert Pierre Vigilance, MD, MPH.

Prescription drug abuse surged during the stay-at-home order; with many communities experiencing double digit increases in overdoses from opiates in a matter of months. And it is by no means restricted to rural, White America. On this episode of Health Equity Now, John is joined by Eleanor Health Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Nzinga Harrison. Hot off their $20M Series B, Dr. Harrison and her team at Eleanor are reshaping the behavioral health and addiction treatment market through a hyper-focus on wholistic, value-based care. John and Dr. Harrison discuss the state of addiction treatment in America, strategies for managing risk in value-based contracting, Eleanor's compelling story to investors and clients, and much more. Enjoy! For more information on Eleanor and addiction management resources check out www.eleanorhealth.com.

More than half a million Americans are living on the streets. Due to the economic fallout from the pandemic, more Americans than ever are teetering on the edge between housed and homeless. As a country, our approach to addressing homelessness has been straightforward: build more affordable housing. But for many people housing alone is not the issue. Jonathan Kumar, CEO of Samaritan, is solving the homelessness crisis by building a social home platform to provide members with the peer and financial support they need to transition into permanent housing. John and Jonathan dive into the heart of problem and the role managed care has to play in supporting their homeless members.

On this episode of Health Equity Now, John is joined by DC policy wars veteran and fellow CMS alumnus Mark Newsom. John and Mark delve into SSBCI, the risk of Medicare Trust Fund solvency, and the political challenges facing the Biden/Harris administration's healthcare agenda. Prior to founding Health Evaluations, LLC, Mark led public policy development and regulatory advocacy at Humana and previously held senior policy and compliance roles at CVS Health and Coventry. On the government side, Mark occupied policy directorship and key operational roles at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and served as a senior policy advisor at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) during the development of the Affordable Care Act. (Note: interview recorded 3/1/21)

In the realm of Food as Medicine, no name stands out more than Meals on Wheels CEO Ellie Hollander. With operations in virtually every community in the US and a network of over 5,000 affiliates, Meals on Wheels is the largest distributor of healthy meals to the medically underserved and vulnerable. Ellie and John have been friends for more than a decade, having worked on numerous care and SDOH initiatives over the years and with John drawing much of his inspiration for Censeo Health (the world's largest mobile physician network) from Ellie's inspirational leadership and dedication to providing companionship as well as food. Enjoy!

How does the growing availability of supplemental benefits impact the bidding cycle? For the inaugural episode, long-time friend and colleague Tim Murray chats with John on the outlook for SSBCI, the growing body of evidence supporting ROI for SDOH interventions, and the latest trends in benefit design for the managed care industry. Tim Murray, FSA, MAAA, is Wakely Consulting Group's Director and Senior Consulting Actuary leading their New York office.

On the Health Equity Now podcast John Gorman sits down with friends, colleagues, partners and innovators that are pursuing innovations both old and new to address Social Determinants of Health. Throughout the show John and guests will discuss what we as health care leaders must do to build greater health equity for all Americans.