The U.S. health care system leaves many of the sickest Americans feeling helpless, facing serious problems with the care they receive, and struggling to make ends meet. These were the findings of a recent survey conducted by the Commonwealth Fund, the New York Times, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This week, Shanoor talks to two of the lead researchers about how American adults who visit the doctor and hospital multiple times a year navigate the challenges and costs of using the health care system.

Different countries have different ways of meeting the health needs of their residents. What do Americans  see when we look at health care in other industrialized countries?

What can the differences between our health system and some of those abroad teach us about improving health care coverage, access, and affordability here in the U.S.?

This week, Shanoor Seervai talks to Eric Schneider, senior vice president for policy and research at the Commonwealth Fund, about the challenges facing the U.S. as it seeks to become one of the world's best health systems.   

When Americans talk about the Canadian health system, they often bring up wait times. But how long do people really have to wait to get care? This week, we talk to Christopher Hayes, the chief medical information officer at an academic and research health care organization in Canada. In spite of being neighbors, the U.S. and Canada take dramatically different approaches to health care. Join us as we try to untangle what this means for people on both sides of the border when they go to see a doctor.

This week we’re talking about the Netherlands, where by law, everyone must have health insurance, so everyone gets access to the same care. With us for this episode is Marthe Haverkamp, a medical doctor, and former health policy advisor to the Dutch government. Marthe was astonished when she found herself facing medical bills running into thousands of dollars shortly after she came to the U.S. with her family.

As the U.S. continues to debate how to deliver affordable health care to all Americans, it’s worth exploring the systems in other countries. Some, like New Zealand, have a "single-payer" system in which the government uses tax money to provide coverage.

To understand how a single-payer system works for people who need care, Shanoor speaks with Robin Gauld, a professor of health policy at the University of Otago Medical School, in New Zealand.

Robin explains how New Zealand handles wait times, the health care disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous people, and why a third of New Zealanders carry private insurance in addition to their public coverage.

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Show Links:

Harkness Fellowships
(https://www.commonwealthfund.org/fellowships/harkness-fellowships-health-care-policy-and-practice)

International Profile: New Zealand (https://international.commonwealthfund.org/countries/new_zealand/)

Adjusting to life in a new country can be difficult. Along with new cultural customs, food, and language, there’s a new health care system to get used to.

In this episode Shanoor speaks with Natacha Lemaire of the French Ministry of Health. Natacha spent a year in the U.S. on a fellowship, and experienced multiple moments of surprise and frustration as she learned to navigate the U.S. health system to care for herself and her family.

Coming from France, where everyone has coverage, Natacha was struck by the high costs of care in the U.S., the lack of transparency around prices, and the frequency with which medical tests were ordered for her and her family.  

For more of The Dose, subscribe to our newsletter on our website, www.thedose.show

Show Links:
Harkness Fellowships
(https://www.commonwealthfund.org/fellowships/harkness-fellowships-health-care-policy-and-practice)

International Profile: France (https://international.commonwealthfund.org/countries/France/)

Has your doctor ever written you a prescription for cooking classes? Does your doctor know your parents? Your siblings? The medical history of your uncle and grandparents? Yeah, we’re serious.

This week, Shanoor sits down with Martin Marshall, a primary care physician from the U.K. Through the stories of his patients, Martin explores the differences between his home country and the United States when it comes to delivering primary care. Martin talks about managing a patient’s diabetes with cooking classes, how he can lean on his intimate knowledge of a patient's family history to arrive at a diagnosis, and about his experience with our health system during a stay in the U.S.

For more of The Dose subscribe to our newsletter on our website, https://www.thedose.show/

Show Links:

Harkness Fellowships https://www.commonwealthfund.org/fellowships/harkness-fellowships-health-care-policy-and-practice

International Profile: England (https://international.commonwealthfund.org/countries/england/)

Health care is complicated – and in the moments when we need it most, we realize we don’t understand how it works. Shouldn’t we?

Join Shanoor Seervai, the host of The Commonwealth Fund’s new podcast The Dose, as she interviews different health policy experts to discuss their latest research, personal stories about the health system, and innovations that could make life easier for people when they need care.

For more of The Dose subscribe to our newsletter on our website, https://www.thedose.show