Tradeoffs

Some patients’ lives are so complicated by trauma, poverty and other social problems that routine conditions like diabetes and asthma regularly turn into $10,000 hospital visits. America’s health care leaders have spent years trying to help this small but costly group of patients. What have they learned?Guests:Jeff Brenner, MD, CEO, The Jewish BoardArthur Brown, Client, Camden CoalitionAmy Finkelstein, PhD, Professor of Economics, MIT; Co-Scientific Director, J-PAL North AmericaAllison Hamblin, MSPH, President and CEO, Center for Health Care StrategiesPaula Lantz, PhD, Professor of Health Policy, University of MichiganLarry Moore, Client, Camden CoalitionKathleen Noonan, JD, President and CEO, Camden CoalitionDottie Scott, Community Health Worker, Camden CoalitionBrian Thompson, Housing Coordinator, Camden CoalitionLeslie Walker, Senior Producer/Reporter, TradeoffsLearn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One doctor debates whether to work for the nation's largest insurance company after it purchased the independent practice she worked for in Oregon. Guest:Gwen O'Keefe, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine, OHSULearn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As lawmakers around the country take aim at transgender rights, we dig into findings from the largest survey ever of trans Americans.Guest:Sandy E. James, JD, PhD, Lead Researcher, 2022 U.S. Transgender SurveyLearn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Girls in the U.S. are in the midst of a growing mental health crisis, and schools are on the front line of finding solutions. But will Black and Latina girls get left behind?Guests:Monica Bhatt, PhD, Senior Research Director, University of Chicago Education LabSheretta Butler-Barnes, PhD, Professor, Washington UniversityKathleen Ethier, PhD, Director, CDC Division of Adolescent and School HealthNgozi Harris, LCPC, Working on Womanhood Director of Program and Staff Development, Youth GuidanceShekinah Jackson, Working on Womanhood ParticipantNora-Lisa Malloy, Working on Womanhood Counselor, Youth GuidanceHeidi Sipe, EdS, Superintendent, Umatilla School District (OR)Learn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patients are now mostly protected from surprise bills, but doctors and insurers are still fighting about the prices. Guest:Benjamin Chartock, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics, Bentley University Learn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities strive to live more freely and fully than ever before, many of America’s doctors, hospitals and insurers are getting in the way. We get an inside look at one doctor’s quest to improve health care for people with conditions like Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy and autism.Guests:Alison Barkoff, JD, Administration for Community Living, HHSKevin CarlsonClarissa Kripke, MD, Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Director of the Office of Developmental Primary Care; University of California, San FranciscoMarjorie Ongpauco, BSN, RN, Nursing ConsultantHarold Pollack, PhD, Professor of Social Work, Policy and Practice; University of ChicagoDonna Valencia, BSN, RN, MSN, Administrator, Group Home AdministratorLeslie Walker, Senior Producer/Reporter, TradeoffsLearn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A bipartisan bill takes aim at a $500 billion health care problem that few people have ever heard of. Will it make care better for some of the country’s sickest, poorest patients?Guests:U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA)Saleema Render-Hornsby, Dually eligible patientAllison Rizer, MBA, Executive Vice President, ATI AdvisoryEric Roberts, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of MedicineCasey Schwarz, JD, Senior Counsel, Medicare Rights CenterHong Truong, Caregiver of dually eligible patientLeslie Walker, Senior Reporter, TradeoffsLearn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are a lot of concerns about the dangers artificial intelligence could pose to your health privacy. AI expert Nicholson Price explains why he thinks too much concern over privacy could make health care AI worse.Guest:Nicholson Price, JD, PhD, Professor of Law, University of MichiganLearn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With high health bills drowning patients in debt, some lawmakers want nonprofit hospitals to give away more free care. But experts warn that could wind up being worse for patients. Guests:Ge Bai, PhD, CPA, Professor of Accounting at Carey Business School, Professor of Health Policy at Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University Jill Horwitz, PhD, JD, MPP, David Sanders Professor of Law and Medicine and Founding Faculty Director, Lowell Milken Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofits, UCLADonna Lynne, DrPH, Denver Health CEOBruce Siegel, MD, MPH, President and CEO of America’s Essential HospitalsGary Young, PhD, JD, Director of the Center for Health Policy and Healthcare Research at Northeastern University Learn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A handful of states allow terminally ill people to take life-ending medications prescribed by a doctor instead of waiting for death. This week, we talk with journalist Steven Petrow about his sister’s choice to use medical aid in dying.Guest:Steven Petrow, Journalist and author Learn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Companies claim they can catch cancer sooner with new blood tests and full-body MRI scans. What are the risks and benefits?Guest: Ishani Ganguli, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; primary care physician, Brigham and Women's HospitalLearn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A live conversation between a top federal health official and a health care executive about how they must work together to keep AI from exacerbating racial bias in health care.Guests:Micky Tripathi, PhD, MPP, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesJames Ellzy, MD, Chief Health Officer, Oracle Health Government ServicesLearn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Key court decisions in 2024 about prescription drug prices, abortion bans, gender affirming care and the Affordable Care Act could change the way health care is delivered in America. Guests:Zach Baron, Co-director of Health Policy and the Law Initiative, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health at Georgetown University Law CenterKatie Eyer, Professor at Rutgers Law School Laurie Sobel, Associate Director of Women's Health Policy at KFF Learn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fentanyl killed 75,000 people in 2022. Now it’s making one of the few treatments for opioid addiction harder to use.Guests:Eric Ezzi, Certified Recovery Specialist, Penn MedicineAshish Thakrar, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of PennsylvaniaLeslie Suen, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of California San FranciscoRyan Levi, Reporter/Producer, Tradeoffs Learn more and read a full transcript on our website.Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.Follow us on X, LinkedIn and Youtube. Email us at info@tradeoffs.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've got a lot to share with you in 2024!We're looking into how fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are upending long established treatments for opioid addiction, and what clinicians and policymakers are doing to adapt.There are a bunch of cases in the courts this year that have the potential to change Americans' access to care, and restrict the power of federal health agencies.And nearly 25 years after a landmark case, declaring that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have a right to live outside state-run institutions, we examine how doctors, hospitals and insurers are failing many of them … and one woman's work to forge a better path.New episodes start 25 January, 2024!Sign up for our weekly newsletter.Support this type of journalism today, with a gift. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last fall, the federal government named its first 10 targets for historic drug price negotiations with big pharma. Those negotiations are expected to heat up this February when federal officials make their opening price offers.This week, we offer a refresher on how this negotiation process will work and the impact it could have.Guests:Anton Avanceña, PhD, Assistant Professor of Health Outcomes, University of Texas Darius Lakdawalla, PhD, Professor of Pharmaceutical Economics and Public Policy, University of Southern California Lauren Neves, JD, Deputy Vice President, PhRMASteve Pearson, MD, MSc, Founder and President, Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER)Ben Rome, MD, MPH, physician and researcher, Harvard Medical SchoolMeena Seshamani, MD, PhD, Deputy Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid ServicesLeslie Walker, Senior Producer/Reporter, TradeoffsLearn more and read a full transcript on our website.Support this type of journalism today, with a gift. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than 130 hospitals have closed in rural America over the last decade. Reporter Sarah Jane Tribble spent a year embedded in one small Kansas town as they dealt with their own hospital closure.Guest: Sarah Jane Tribble, Senior Correspondent, Kaiser Health NewsRead a transcript of this conversation: https://tradeoffs.org/2020/10/08/losing-a-hospital/Hear more of Sarah Jane's reporting about Fort Scott on the first season of Where It Hurts: whereithurts.show Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From where medical students are choosing to train to how doctors are caring for women in reproductive health crises, the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe has had major ripple effects on the field of medicine. In this conversation from our friends at STAT's First Opinion podcast, host Torie Bosch talks with two abortion providers about what it's like to practice medicine in post-Roe America.Learn more and read a full transcript on our website.Support this type of journalism today, with a gift, which for a limited time will be matched! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Economist Amy Finkelstein has studied America’s patchwork of health insurance policies for more than 20 years. In a forthcoming book she concludes it’s time tear the whole system down.This week, Dan talks with Amy about how she came to that conclusion and what a better system could look like. Guest:Amy Finkelstein, PhD, Professor of Economics, MITLearn more and read a full transcript on our website.Support this type of journalism today, with a gift, which for a limited time will be matched! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s growing excitement that artificial intelligence can make health care better by speeding up care, improving diagnoses and easing the burden on a burned out workforce. But there are also concerns that these powerful new tools will perpetuate biases and inequities long baked into our health care system.In Part 2 of our special series on racial bias in health care AI, we dig into what the Biden administration is doing to keep biased algorithms from getting to the bedside.Guests:Emily Sterrett, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Director of Improvement Science, Duke University School of Medicine Department of PediatricsMark Sendak, MD, MPP, Population Health & Data Science Lead, Duke Institute for Health InnovationMinerva Tantoco, Chief AI Officer, New York University McSilver Institute for Poverty, Policy and ResearchCarmel Shachar, JD, MPH, Executive Director, Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law SchoolKathryn Marchesini, JD, Chief Privacy Officer, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information TechnologyMelanie Fontes Rainer, JD, Director, HHS Office for Civil RightsLearn more and read a full transcript on our website.Dan Gorenstein will moderate three one-on-one discussions featuring industry leaders and top officials from ONC, FDA, and HHS’ Office of Civil Rights over two plenary sessions, you can watch them here.Support this type of journalism today, with a gift, which for a limited time will be matched! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.