In this episode, we talk with Mara Heneghan about something called “Public Pharma,” which can fix our current prescription drug prices.  Mara is director of the Health and Political Economy Project at the New School’s Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, where she works on health-focused policy and programs.

Polling consistently shows a disturbing fact: 4 in every 10 Americans report skipping prescription doses because they can’t afford their cost, something we know can cost lives. Affording prescription drugs always ranks at the top of Americans’ concerns, and certainly a struggle that we see as very real for our low-income clients. 

Mara tells us that she and others have been working on a fix: drug manufacturing can and should be treated as essential public infrastructure, instead of a platform for price gouging.  In fact, it is already being done.

California’s CalRx is a state-backed initiative that produces CalRx-branded insulin pens, which are offered at pharmacies for approximately $11 per pen – a fraction of the roughly $80 or more per pen that patients typically pay for brand-name long-acting insulin. 

CalRx is working on doing the same for albuterol, a medicine that is critical for children with asthma. Michigan and New York are contemplating following California’s lead in public manufacturing of medicines. 

The public sector also is starting to leverage its purchasing power to lower drug prices. Not only is all this fully legal, the federal government actually has the right to license patents on critical medicines to generic manufacturers when those medicines are made unaffordable by monopoly-holding corporations. (See an explanation of that “1498 option below.) Our government has done this in the past, and should again.

Here is some additional background about Public Pharma:

• Prescription Drug Prices are a Problem–But TrumpRx is Not the Solution, by Victor Roy and Mara Heneghan, March 2026, https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2026-03-26/prescription-drug-prices-trumprx 

• The New School’s Institute on Race, Power, and the Political Economy,   https://racepowerpolicy.org/ 

• Democracy Collaborative, Why We Need a Public Option in Pharma, https://www.democracycollaborative.org/whatwethink/medicine-for-all-the-case-for-a-public-option-in-the-pharmaceutical-industry

• Chris Morten,Who’s Afraid of Section 1498? https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/2810/

In this episode, we talk with Mara Heneghan about something called “Public Pharma,” which can fix our current prescription drug prices.  Mara is director of the Health and Political Economy Project at the New School’s Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, where she works on health-focused policy and programs.

Polling consistently shows a disturbing fact: 4 in every 10 Americans report skipping prescription doses because they can’t afford their cost, something we know can cost lives. Affording prescription drugs always ranks at the top of Americans’ concerns, and certainly a struggle that we see as very real for our low-income clients. 

Mara tells us that she and others have been working on a fix: drug manufacturing can and should be treated as essential public infrastructure, instead of a platform for price gouging.  In fact, it is already being done.

California’s CalRx is a state-backed initiative that produces CalRx-branded insulin pens, which are offered at pharmacies for approximately $11 per pen – a fraction of the roughly $80 or more per pen that patients typically pay for brand-name long-acting insulin. 

CalRx is working on doing the same for albuterol, a medicine that is critical for children with asthma. Michigan and New York are contemplating following California’s lead in public manufacturing of medicines. 

The public sector also is starting to leverage its purchasing power to lower drug prices. Not only is all this fully legal, the federal government actually has the right to license patents on critical medicines to generic manufacturers when those medicines are made unaffordable by monopoly-holding corporations. (See an explanation of that “1498 option below.) Our government has done this in the past, and should again.

Here is some additional background about Public Pharma:

• Prescription Drug Prices are a Problem–But TrumpRx is Not the Solution, by Victor Roy and Mara Heneghan, March 2026, https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2026-03-26/prescription-drug-prices-trumprx 

• The New School’s Institute on Race, Power, and the Political Economy,   https://racepowerpolicy.org/ 

• Democracy Collaborative, Why We Need a Public Option in Pharma, https://www.democracycollaborative.org/whatwethink/medicine-for-all-the-case-for-a-public-option-in-the-pharmaceutical-industry

• Chris Morten,Who’s Afraid of Section 1498? https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/2810/

This week, we are doing something different from welcoming an outside guest. For our episode on the week of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we are going to talk about an article Fran recently published on the website Common Dreams: Reclaiming the Pursuit of Happiness: Let’s Celebrate the Declaration’s 250th by Ending Poverty (https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/reclaiming-pursuit-of-happiness)

To lead our conversation, we pulled out from behind the scenes our podcast’s guru and producer Jack Quigley.  Jack is a journalist and writer, now Chief Marketing Officer for 14 Regional Construction Trade Magazines.Jack takes over the questioning and asks Fran about his article, including: 

    •    The historical evidence showing that, by promising that our new government would fulfill “the pursuit of happiness” as an inalienable right, the founders meant a government guarantee of housing, healthcare, and meeting critical needs;

    •    How civil rights like voting, free speech, etc. are completely dependent on fulfilling economic rights to housing, healthcare, etc.;

    •    Why the record shows that the U.S. people, now and throughout history, are nowhere near as hostile to guaranteeing economic rights to housing, healthcare, etc. as we have been led to believe;

    •    Why the U.S. ratifying the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights could solve our poverty crisis.

The full article is available here: Reclaiming the Pursuit of Happiness: Let’s Celebrate the Declaration’s 250th by Ending Poverty (https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/reclaiming-pursuit-of-happiness)

In this episode, we talk with Catlin Nchako of the topnotch research and policy institute Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Catlin and his colleagues are documenting the devastating impact of the Trump/Republican “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” As Catlin told us, the law has already pushed 3.5 million people off of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) aka Food Stamps program..

You can see those numbers, and the numbers for your own state on the Center on Budget’s website, specifically an ongoing feature called, SNAP Tracker: People Are Losing Food Assistance as the Republican Megabill Is Implemented (link below).

Catlin is a data researcher, but he emphasizes here the human cost to children and to our communities. He also explains how to fix this: the federal government needs to press pause on the transfer of SNAP responsibility to the states. That could help ease the very real suffering going on in the short-term, while repealing these mean-spirited barriers (more on the impact of red-tape work requirements here ) is the long-term answer.

🔗: https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-as...
🔗: https://endpovertynow.substack.com/p/...

Stephen Semler is a self-described “producer of charts & policy analysis for the working class.” As the author of the newsletter Polygraph and a co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute, he is the best there is at explaining how the arms industry has used piles of campaign money to take over U.S. budgets via Congress and Presidential administrations, and the price we all pay for this domination. We talk about his journey from a short stint as an arms industry lobbyist himself to now writing amazing articles like, What $1.5 Trillion for the Pentagon Could Fund Instead–a stunning list that includes ending world hunger, ending U.S. homelessness, Medicaid for the uninsured, power half of U.S. households with solar–with plenty of billions left over. Reading that article spurred Fran to become a paid subscriber to Polygraph. For a podcast that insists we can do better, Stephen explains where the money is to accomplish all of our goals.

Sister Emily TeKolste is an organizer for NETWORK Advocates and Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, https://www.networkadvocates.org/ and https://networklobby.org/. Sr. Emily tells us about her journey through activism and service to become a Sister of Providence and organizer for economic justice. Sr. Emily tells us how “giving up billionaires for Lent” is part of the program linking multi-faith values to direct advocacy to lawmakers, an agenda that was a key part of the abolition movement, the civil rights movement, and creating and defending the Affordable Care Act. We learn how progressive organizing can take a lesson from conservative movements–which have nurtured activism by emphasizing relationships and community first. Which leads Sr. Emily and colleagues to be nurturing “squad goals” in the push for higher wages, paid family leave, and healthcare for all.

#economicjustice #healthcareforall #workersrights #livingwage #communityorganizing #socialjustice #publicpolicy #faithinaction #wecandobetter

Devon Gray is the president of End Poverty in California, EPIC, https://endpovertyinca.org/ In this episode, we talk with Devon about EPIC’s work to change the narrative about poverty, focusing on amplifying the voices of workers through its #Listen2Workers campaign. Check EPIC’s website and social media, @EndPovertyCA,  for direct conversations with fast food workers, child care providers, gig drivers, etc.

Devon tells us about his journey from Stanford Law to working with Stockton, CA mayor and EPIC founder Michael Tubbs, who created successful guaranteed income and student scholarship programs.  We discuss EPIC’s Blueprint to End Poverty, and the lessons EPIC has learned that apply to all states, including the red ones. The Blueprint  is available to read on its site, under the same Issues tab that includes some of the legislation they push, including a $21 minimum wage for healthcare workers, corporate transparency, and limitations on renter security deposits.