November 28, 2025

Why Health Care Reform Keeps Failing w/ Dr. David Shulkin

48 minutes

Behind every headline about rising premiums is a deeper truth: our health care system is structurally unsustainable.

In this episode of Health Care Rounds Podcast, former US Secretary of Veteran Affairs, Dr. David Shulkin, explains why real reform requires more than subsidies and payment tweaks. We cover everything from misaligned incentives to lessons from the VA’s population-based model and what it’ll take to actually fix U.S. health care.

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🎙 ABOUT THE DR. DAVID SHULKIN

The Honorable David J. Shulkin was nominated by President Trump to serve as the ninth Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) and was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 13, 2017.

Prior to his confirmation as Secretary, Dr. Shulkin served as VA’s Under Secretary for Health for 18 months, leading the Nation’s largest integrated health care system, with over 1,700 sites of care serving nearly nine million Veterans.

Before he began his service with VA, Dr. Shulkin held numerous chief executive roles at Morristown Medical Center, and the Atlantic Health System Accountable Care Organization. He also served as President and CEO of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.

Dr. Shulkin has held numerous physician leadership roles including Chief Medical Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Temple University Hospital, and the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital. He has also held academic positions including Chairman of Medicine and Vice Dean at Drexel University School of Medicine.

As an entrepreneur, Dr. Shulkin founded and served as Chairman and CEO of DoctorQuality, one of the first consumer-oriented sources of information on quality and safety in healthcare. A board-certified internist, Dr. Shulkin is also a fellow of the American College of Physicians. He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania, and he completed his internship at Yale University School of Medicine and a residency and fellowship in General Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian Medical Center. He also received advanced training in outcomes research and economics as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Shulkin has been named as one of the “50 Most Influential Physician Executives in the Country” by Modern Healthcare. He has also previously been named among the “One Hundred Most Influential People in American Healthcare.” He has been married to his wife, Dr. Merle Bari, for more than 30 years. They are the parents of two grown children.

🎙 ABOUT HEALTH CARE ROUNDS
Health Care Rounds is a weekly podcast developed for health care leaders who are at the forefront of health care delivery and payment reform. Join Darwin Research Group founder and CEO John Marchica as he discusses the latest advancements in health care business news and policy developments.

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