It’s Medicare open enrollment season, and in this episode first aired in 2021, we explain why shopping for a new plan is often tougher than it seems.

Guests:

Lilyan Grossman, Medicare beneficiary

Tricia Neuman, ScD, Senior Vice President and Executive Director of the Program on Medicare Policy, Kaiser Family Foundation

Amal Trivedi, MD, Professor of Medicine and Health Services, Policy, and Practice, Brown University

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One of the nation’s leading experts on the Affordable Care Act breaks down its track record and weighs in on the stakes the historic health care law faces in the lead-up to the election.

Guest:

Larry Levitt, Executive Vice President for Health Policy, KFF

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The next U.S. president will have to make consequential choices about the Affordable Care Act, prescription drug prices and abortion. We compare the positions of candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on these major health policy issues. (NOTE: This episode has been updated to clarify the number of people who would lose health coverage if Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies expired.)

Guests:

Michael Cannon, Director of Health Policy Studies, Cato Institute

Ederlina Co, JD, Associate Professor of Law, University of the Pacific

Cynthia Cox, Vice President and Director of Program on the ACA, KFF

Stacie Dusetzina, PhD, Professor of Health Policy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Benedic Ippolito, PhD, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Ryan Levi, Reporter/Producer, Tradeoffs

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Journalist Paula Span, who writes The New Old Age column for the New York Times, shares what she’s learned about how to age well.

Guest:

Paula Span, reporter and The New Old Age columnist for the New York Times

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U.S. companies spend more than $1 trillion annually on health care for their employees. To get this budget-busting figure under control, some companies are experimenting with cutting out insurers, and investing in primary care clinics at the office. 

Guests:

Amy Cooper, NP, Vera Whole Health

Bob Galvin, MD, former Chief Medical Officer, General Electric and Board Chairman, Catalyst for Payment Reform

Dan Mendelson, CEO, Morgan Health

Ann O’Malley, MD, MPH, Senior Fellow, Mathematica

Matt Ohrt, Co-founder, Self Fund Health

Lee Sagraves, Employee, JPMorganChase

Gwen Sagraves

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For decades, the most effective treatment for addiction to methamphetamine or cocaine has been mired in stigma and mostly limited to small research studies. But with deaths involving meth and cocaine on the rise, policymakers across the country are turning to gift cards to fight drug use.

This story has been updated to clarify the research on long-term effects of contingency management and the eligibility requirements to deliver contingency management through CalAIM.

Credits:

Stephen Higgins, PhD, Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Vermont

Richard Rawson, PhD, Professor Emeritus, UCLA Department of Psychology

Andrew Dertien, Contingency Management Coordinator, HealthRIGHT 360

Bernard Groves

Ayesha Appa, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, UCSF and San Francisco General Hospital

Tyler Sadwith, Medicaid Director, California Department of Health Care Services

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Many potent new medicines pose a host of challenges for drug companies trying to copy and sell similar versions on the cheap. Can those companies find a sustainable path forward, or will patients get left stuck paying exorbitant prices?

Guests:

Christine Baeder, MBA, President, Apotex USA

Alfred Engelberg, JD, retired attorney and former counsel to the Generic Pharmaceutical Industry Association

Jeremy Greene, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and the History of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University

Candy Meyer, Patient

Bhaven Sampat, PhD, Professor, Arizona State University School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Marta Wosińska, PhD, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

Leslie Walker, Senior Reporter/Producer, Tradeoffs

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America pays less, on average, than any other major country for our generic drugs. But selling essential drugs at such low prices comes with hidden costs — from quality problems to frequent shortages.

This is the second episode of Race to the Bottom, a three-part series by Tradeoffs on the problems plaguing the generic drugs we all rely on — and how we could fix them.

Guests:

Christine Baeder, MBA, President, Apotex USA

Laura Bray, MBA, Founder, Angels for Change

Craig Burton, Senior Vice President of Policy and Strategic Alliances, Association for Accessible Medicines

Iilun Murphy, MD, Director of the Office of Generic Drugs, FDA

Leslie Walker, Senior Reporter/Producer, Tradeoffs

Marta Wosińska, PhD, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

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Generic drugs are, in many ways, the unsung hero of America’s health care system, bringing powerful medical innovations within the reach of millions more people. These cheaper copies of brand-name drugs — from pills that stop heart attacks to antibiotics that cure life-threatening infections — save America hundreds of billions of dollars a year. But will affordable, high-quality generic drugs continue to be there when we need them?

Some players are abandoning this business while others slash costs by cutting dangerous corners. Shortages of older generic drugs have become the norm, sending doctors scrambling. At the same time, crucial new medicines are proving tougher to copy on the cheap, saddling patients with brand-name prices.

Over the course of “Race to the Bottom,” our new three-part podcast series, we’ll explore why this industry that’s so essential to our health is in trouble — and what could change that.

In part one, we examine the history of this industry. Forty years ago this month, President Ronald Reagan signed groundbreaking, bipartisan legislation that gave birth to a new drug market. Lawmakers made choices back then that help explain the wild success and also the troubles we see today with generic medicines.

Guests:

Christine Baeder, MBA, President, Apotex USA

Alfred Engelberg, JD, retired attorney and former counsel to the Generic Pharmaceutical Association

Leslie Walker, Senior Reporter/Producer, Tradeoffs

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One organization turns to a game to get employees to debate and decide together what health care they most value. 

Guests:

Paul Fronstin, Ph.D., Director, Health Benefits Research, Employee Benefits Research Institute 

Jeanette Janota, Senior Research Associate, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Tavril Saint Jean, Senior Research Associate, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Janet McNichol, Chief Human Resources Officer, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Evan Reid, Senior Director of Analytics, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Julia Reilly-Edwards, Data Scientist, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

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