Nurse Talk

How is the truth about single payer/Medicare for All twisted by the corporate media and right-wing billionaires? What must Americans do to take back their health care? Join host Brenda Gazzar and Hartmann, America’s No. 1 progressive talk radio show host and New York Times bestselling author, as they discuss the implications of his book, “The Hidden History of American Health Care: Why Sickness Bankrupts You and Makes Others Insanely Rich.”

Why should people who have great health insurance care about people who don't? Listen as guest Dr. Paul Y. Song, radiation oncologist and president of Physicians for a National Health Program - California, and host Brenda Gazzar discuss the roots of America's unequal healthcare system. Why did the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration develop two different public insurance programs - Medicare for retirees - and Medicaid for low-income people? How is that decision still impacting American communities over 50 years later? What can we do now that would help?

What does it mean to “privatize” Medicare? What’s ACO-Reach? Why does it matter? Who’s for it, who’s against it, and why? Join host Brenda Gazzar and Ed Weisbart, MD, a retired family physician, former chief medical officer of Express Scripts and a national board member of Physicians for a National Health Program to get the low-down. Dr. Weisbart shines a revealing light on an issue that will impact the healthcare experience of almost every American aged 65 or older - the ongoing effort to give away Medicare to private, for-profit investors. Should health care be “just another way” for investors and shareholders to make money? Is a for-profit Fire Department just around the corner?

How do common American hospital practices traumatize patients and their nurses? What experiences erode trust between the sick and their healers? Join host Brenda Gazzar and Kathy Allan, RN and board-certified holistic nurse, for unique insights into healthcare-acquired trauma and what we can do about it. Her years of training in PTSD and Developmental Trauma, combined with her experience working as a nurse at a major California hospital, inspired her to create a program to address systemic trauma in health care. How can hospitals restore a sense of confidence among patients and nurses that their needs will be met? Where can nurses and other providers learn strategies to release trauma? How could Medicare for All make a positive difference, not just in the patient experience but also in the community?

For most of us, the horror of getting a cancer diagnosis is only the beginning of a protracted, exhausting and stressful struggle to get the coverage and care we need to survive. Patients with life-threatening illnesses are at ground zero of a major moral conflict in America - a healthcare system that is as much about profit as it is about care. Join host Brenda Gazzar and Daniel Ray Hilsinger, filmmaker, activist, singer and songwriter as they discuss his fight to survive a rare cancer while only in his 20s. What did he learn about health care and privilege while on the chemo wards? How did his experience change his life? Why should sick people have to deal with the "overwhelming and tragic and horrible burden" of health insurance hassles while fighting to live?

What can advocates do when lawmakers shirk their responsibility to fix a healthcare system that hurts so many? Are campaign contributions from the for-profit healthcare industry the reason legislators refuse to advance reforms that would cover everybody, for everything, for less money? In this second of two podcasts, join host Brenda Gazzar and Whole Washington founder and operations director Georgia Davenport, to get Whole Washington's take on how to get around legislative inaction using the ballot initiative process. Why could winning single payer in Washington state "open the floodgates" to expanding improved Medicare to everyone? Plus, learn what you can do to support Whole Washington in this fight!

Whole Washington, a grassroots coalition in the Evergreen State, is committed to winning health care, "created by The People, for Everyone!" The Whole Washington Health Trust would be the nation's first public, non-profit healthcare system. Who's the founder of Whole Washington, and what led her to champion healthcare reform? What's been done so far to advance health care for all in Washington, and what's next for the single-payer movement there? Join host Brenda Gazzar and Whole Washington founder and operations director, web designer and mom, Georgia Davenport, who has helped establish and lead the state's all-volunteer initiative effort for universal health care.

HMOs may seem like a good deal, but what if you need a medical specialist? Will the doctor you need be in your network? And what about those crazy bills? Join host Brenda Gazzar and guest Nilton Fonseca, husband, father of three, and a construction engineering director, as he describes his struggle to find a plastic surgeon experienced in his condition. Did his appeal to the relevant state regulatory agency help? (Take a guess.) In this second of two podcasts, Fonseca details hassles with his health insurance that marred his treatment experience as he battled breast cancer. How could his experience have been different with single payer?

How do our healthcare and health insurance systems respond to patients with rare diseases? What about diseases that are stereotypically considered a “woman’s disease?” Do all breast cancer patients - even men - receive the full range of care they need? Join guest Nilton Fonseca, husband and father of three, with three decades of domestic and international construction engineering experience, as he details his journey after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. In this first of two podcasts, Fonseca and host Brenda Gazzar discuss the unexpected and unacceptable hassles he faced.

What should single-payer supporters around the country think about the defeat of California's AB 1400? Did the state just lose its bid for healthcare equity? Join guest Michael Lighty, president of Healthy California Now, and host Brenda Gazzar for an insightful analysis of how this campaign played out on the political stage. How can advocates make healthcare equity a political necessity for legislators? In light of the growing popularity of government-run healthcare, what lessons can we learn from AB 1400? How can proponents lay the foundation for future success?