The pandemic pushed Medicare to start paying for “hospital-at-home” care for the first time, launching the largest test ever of home-based hospital care. This week, we look at what we’ve learned from the hospital-at-home explosion and questions about home-based care remain unanswered.

Guests: 

Bruce Leff, MD, Director, The Center for Transformative Geriatric Research, Johns Hopkins

David and Melanie Mercurio

Constantinos “Taki” Michaelidis, MD, Medical Director, Hospital at Home Program, UMass Memorial Health

Michelle Mahon, RN, Assistant Director of Nursing Practice, National Nurses United

Nathan Starr, DO, Medical Director for Home Services, Castell; Director of Telehospitalist Program, Intermountain Healthcare

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Even though more Americans than ever have health insurance, medical debt is a pervasive problem in the United States.

Guests: 

Noam Levey, Senior Correspondent, Kaiser Health News

Wesley Yin, PhD, Associate Professor of Economics, UCLA

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Less than a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, some states are rethinking their abortion bans.

This week, reporter Alice Miranda Ollstein introduces us to a Republican lawmaker pushing to add exceptions to the ban he helped pass, and we consider how well exceptions work - or don't - in practice. 

Guests:

Alice Miranda Ollstein, Health Care Reporter, Politico

State Sen. Richard Briggs, MD, Tennessee General Assembly

Yarnell Beatty, JD, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Tennessee Medical Association

Will Brewer, JD, Director of Government Relations, Tennessee Right to Life

Katrina Kimport, PhD, Associate Professor, ANSIRH, University of California San Francisco

Katie May

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Meet the man behind our revamped research newsletter bringing you the latest health policy studies, original analysis, interviews with leading researchers and more every Tuesday.

Subscribe at tradeoffs.org/research

Guest:

Soleil Shah, Research Reporter, Tradeoffs

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Later this year the Supreme Court is set to decide whether to close a legal pathway that Medicaid recipients have used for more than 50 years. This week, we talk with Farah Yousry about the potential consequences of this decision.

Guests:

Farah Yousry, Health Equity Reporter, Side Effects Public Media

Susie Talevski, patient

Chris Schandevel, Senior Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom

Jane Perkins, Litigation Director, National Health Law Program

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People leaving jail and prison are at extremely high risk of hospitalization and death. This week, why policymakers from deep blue California to solidly red Utah think bringing Medicaid behind bars could help.

Guests:

Lee Reed

Shira Shavit, MD, Professor of Family and Community Medicine, University of California San Francisco; Executive Director, Transitions Clinic Network

Jacey Cooper, Director, California Medicaid Program

Cindy Beane, MSW, LCSW, Commissioner, West Virginia Bureau of Medical Services

Amy Katzen, JD, MPP, Director of Policy and Strategy, Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services

Mike Levine, Medicaid Director, MassHealth

Dana Flannery, Former Senior Policy Advisor, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System

Khalil Cumberbatch, MSW, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Council on Criminal Justice

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Medicare’s historic plan to slow prescription drug spending is taking shape. Last Thursday federal health officials began detailing how one of two major drug price reforms contained in the Inflation Reduction Act will work and who it will affect. 

This week, we talk with Medicare director Meena Seshamani about the “opportunity of a lifetime” to put these unprecedented policies into action.

Guest:

Meena Seshamani, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Medicare and Deputy Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

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One year of health insurance premiums for a family of four now costs as much as a car. Nine states are trying to lower those costs in an aggressive way - by holding hospitals and insurance companies accountable for high spending. In this episode we look to see if any of those efforts have bent the cost curve.

Guests: 

Leemore Dafny, PhD, Harvard University economist

Michael Bailit, MBA President and Founder Bailit Health

David Seltz, Executive Director Massachusetts Health Policy Commission

Amy Rosenthal, MPH, MPA Executive Director Health Care For All

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Black Americans report higher levels of mistrust in the health care system than white Americans and suffer worse outcomes in everything from maternal mortality to life expectancy. What if improving health literacy and demystifying health information could be the part of the solution?

This week, one doctor’s crusade to help more people understand their own health care and why insurers are starting to buy in.

Guests:

Lisa Fitzpatrick, MD, MPH, MPA, Founder and CEO, Grapevine Health

Keith Maccannon, Director of Marketing, Outreach and Community Relations, AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia

Yvonne Smith, Grapevine Client

Karen Dale, RN, MSN, Market President, AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia

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Popping into the feed with a bit of breaking news on a story we've been reporting on for months: For the first time ever, some people incarcerated in jail or prison will have access to Medicaid. We'll have a full episode on this dramatic policy change in February.

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