This is episode 103, “Why Medicare for All Is Better Than Direct Contracting.” 

Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why Medicare for All is better than direct contracting.

This is episode 102, “Why Medicare for All Will Provide More Freedom.” 

Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why Medicare for All provides more freedom than private health insurance plans.

This is episode 101, “Drowning, Guns, Healthcare and What People Say.”

Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why the response to drownings, gun violence, and healthcare is to let people die and why we need to change that.

Here is the article that I referenced from the New York Times: "Drowning Is No. 1 Killer of Young Children. U.S. Efforts to Fix It Are Lagging."

• "Drowning Facts"

Here is the study from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions for my statistics on gun violence: "U.S. Gun Violence in 2021: An Accounting of a Public Health Crisis"

This is episode 100, “Bubble-Up Economics.”

Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks expands the discussion beyond Medicare for All and discusses why we need to take a “bubble-up” approach to the economy.

In this podcast, I quote CBS News. However, in the podcast I do not say explicitly that I am quoting CBS. Here is the quote, “If the minimum wage had risen along with workers' productivity since the 1970s, it would currently be set at nearly $23 an hour, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.”

This is episode 99, “Clarifying a Few Points.”

Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why the free-market will always result in a market failure for healthcare and why the free-market will never provide a viable solution for healthcare. 

This is episode 98, "The Reintroduction of Medicare for All Bills and Why We Need Medicare for All."

Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks informs that the Medicare for All Act bills will be reintroduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate on May 17, 2023, and summarizes some of the reasons why we need Medicare for All.

This is episode 97, “Some Changes Needed in Our Current Healthcare System.”

Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why certain companies should not be allowed to assist or advise the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, why we need to track denial of care by health insurance companies, why physicians deserve a rate increase from Medicare, and why health insurance companies don’t. 

This is episode 96, “Why Does the Government Keep Letting Medicare Advantage Plan Companies Off the Hook.”

Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why, in his opinion, Medicare Advantage plan companies are like bank robbers that the government supports and what needs to be done to stop these bank robbers.

Here is the article referenced in this episode: Medicare Delays a Full Crackdown on Private Health Plans.

This is episode 95, “Pharmacy Benefit Managers and Automatic Denials.” 

My guest, Julie Baak, will discuss Pharmacy Benefit Managers or PBMs and automatic denials, and how PBMs and automatic denials harm patients. 

Julie is the Practice Manager of the Arthritis Center in Bridgeton, Missouri and an expert in Rheumatology Practice Management. 

She has testified to the Missouri Senate Insurance Committee on patient access to care. Julie has received a ‘Change Maker’ award from the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), has served as the chair of the Payer Committee at the National Organization of Rheumatology Management (NORM) and currently serves on the Coalition State Rheumatology Organization (CSRO) Payer Response Team.

Do not miss this episode as Julie Baak describes the harm to patients caused by pharmacy benefit managers and automatic denials.

This is episode 94, “Why Doesn’t the Government Provide the Same Help to People Who Are Denied Care?”

Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks asks why the government doesn’t provide the same quick help to people who are denied care by health insurance companies as it did to the Silicon Valley Bank depositors.