Nurse Talk

This time on Code WACK! Why is long term care, including in-home health care, in crisis? How are skyrocketing costs affecting patients? How come two-thirds of people in California who are getting in-home health care get it from family members who are often unpaid? Would universal long term care - or a single-payer system with unified financing - help? To find out, we spoke to Jodi Reid, executive director of California Alliance for Retired Americans, California’s largest grassroots senior advocacy organization. She has more than four decades of organizing experience on issues ranging from health care to housing. Jodi represents her organization on the board of Healthy California Now, a single-payer advocacy coalition. This is the first of a two-part series with Jodi about long-term care.

This time on Code WACK! How do insurance companies put up barriers to addiction treatments? How does this affect treatment programs and their clients? And how would it be if we had Medicare for All? To find out, we spoke to Arlene Stanich-Prince, executive director of Ohlhoff Recovery Programs in San Francisco, one of the longest standing treatment programs in the area. This is the second of two episodes with Stanich-Prince.

This time on Code WACK! What are some of the most common misconceptions about people who are addicted to substances like opioids? What medicines are revolutionizing the way people are being treated today – and how accessible are they? To find out, we spoke to Arlene Stanich-Prince, executive director of Ohlhoff Recovery Programs in San Francisco, one of the longest standing treatment programs in the area. This is the first of two episodes with Stanich-Prince. Check out the Show Notes and Transcript for more!

What is the true cost of the American health insurance system? What toll is it taking on both patients and providers? And what do we need instead? To find out, we recently interviewed Dr. Linda Peeno, a physician, ethicist and health insurance industry whistleblower who testified before Congress and who has spent nearly four decades working to protect patients from harm and death by corporate healthcare systems. Dr. Peeno was played by actor Laura Dern in the 2002 docudrama “Damaged Care,” and she was also featured in Michael Moore’s 2007 documentary “Sicko.”

How did a single mom in Kentucky, in the 1970s, become a physician, then a health insurance medical reviewer and eventually a whistleblower? To find out, we recently interviewed Dr. Linda Peeno, a physician and ethicist who has spent nearly four decades working to protect patients from harm and death by corporate healthcare systems. Dr. Peeno was played by actor Laura Dern in the 2002 docudrama “Damaged Care,” and she was also featured in Michael Moore’s 2007 documentary “Sicko.” She has assisted in more than 150 legal cases to expose for-profit systems that have corrupted medicine and health care.

In honor of PRIDE Month, we’re revisiting a popular episode about the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. What were the health policy failures that spurred so many Americans to militant activism? How did the LGBTQ+ community win the struggle to get government funding to address the deadly virus? Fortunately, today, with appropriate medical intervention, more and more people are living, instead of dying, with HIV/AIDS. But the U.S. still trails many developed countries in life expectancy, a result of health policy failures that continue to cause unnecessary death and suffering. What can today's Medicare-for-All movement learn from AIDS activists? To find out, we spoke with Michael Lighty, President of the Healthy California Now Coalition and former constituency director for Bernie 2020.

This time on Code WACK! At least seven states are grappling with budget shortfalls in 2024. What goes on behind the scenes when a state needs to cut costs? Who stands to lose the most as programs are trimmed or eliminated? Today we're looking at California’s multi-billion dollar budget deficit – and what's being done to protect the state’s most vulnerable residents. To find out, we spoke to Jodi Reid, executive director of California Alliance for Retired Americans, California’s largest grassroots senior advocacy organization. She has more than four decades of organizing experience on issues ranging from health care to housing. Jodi represents her organization on the board of Healthy California Now, a single-payer advocacy coalition.

This time on Code WACK! How do Managed Care health insurance plans hurt patients? Why is it legal for commercial health insurers to use Denial-of-Care as a business model? And what is one organization doing to call attention to such issues? To find out, we spoke to Kimberly J. Soenen, founder of “SOME PEOPLE,” a Chicago-based not-for-profit organization and multiverse channel dedicated to removing barriers to healthcare access. Soenen is also the COO of AMPERS Radio Association in Minnesota, but the views she expressed in this podcast are solely her own. This is the second episode in a two-part series with Kimberly Soenen.

This time on Code WACK! What’s the impact of health insurance denial-of-care tactics? Who “wins” when new employees have to wait three months before their health insurance kicks in? What devastating physical, financial and emotional consequences did one young woman face after she was seriously injured during such a waiting period? To find out, we spoke to Kimberly Soenen, the Minnesota-based founder of “Some People,” a not-for-profit organization and multiverse channel that examines the people, processes and systems that constitute the maintenance of and barriers to health. This is the first episode in a two-part series with Kimberly. Soenen is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of AMPERS Radio Association. All views expressed during this podcast are her own.

This time on Code WACK! Why do lawmakers continue to ignore the toll our broken healthcare system takes on us? And what can we do, ourselves, to bring about change? What inspired single-payer advocate and mother Rebecca Wood to put much of her activism on hold to “sharpen her swords”? To find out, we interviewed Rebecca, a first-year law student and public interest fellow at the University of Massachusetts. She’s a 2024 Rappaport Fellow in Law and Public Policy and the president of the University of Massachusetts Law National Lawyers Guild chapter. This is the second episode in a two-part series with Rebecca.

This time on Code WACK! In honor of Mother's Day, we're talking about how our dysfunctional health insurance system affects moms. How far did one mother go to ensure that her daughter – born extremely premature – got the critical care she needed? How did our broken healthcare system push our guest, Rebecca Wood, to delay her own care for the sake of her daughter Charlie, with devastating consequences? How has Rebecca’s life been transformed since she testified before Congress in 2019 about the impossible choices she faced? This is the first of two podcast episodes featuring Rebecca Wood.

This time on Code WACK! With all its apparent advantages, why hasn’t California passed single payer yet? Is organized labor fully in the Medicare-for-All game? Do managed care providers - like Kaiser Permanente - have outsized influence on healthcare reform in the state? To find out, we spoke to Peter Shapiro, a retired letter carrier and author of Song of the Stubborn One Thousand: the Watsonville Canning Strike (Haymarket Books 2016). He represented his union at the founding conference of the Labor Campaign for Single Payer in 2009 and has been involved with the issue ever since. He currently represents the Alameda Labor Council on the board of Healthy California Now, a single-payer advocacy coalition. This is the second episode in a two-part series with Peter Shapiro.

This time on Code WACK! How is private equity affecting our healthcare system? What’s being done about it? How does our fragmented healthcare system affect patients, including people who have cancer? And what cues can healthcare reform activists take from California's immigrant community? To find out, we spoke to Peter Shapiro, a retired letter carrier and author of Song of the Stubborn One Thousand: the Watsonville Canning Strike (Haymarket Books 2016). He represented his union at the founding conference of the Labor Campaign for Single Payer in 2009 and has been involved with the issue ever since. He currently represents the Alameda Labor Council on the board of Healthy California Now, a single-payer advocacy coalition. This is the first episode in a two-part series with Peter Shapiro.

This time on Code WACK! How would single-payer, Medicare for All affect the experience of getting care? Would it make it easier to find and see a primary care doctor? And just as importantly, how much money could individuals and families save under a state or national single-payer system? See how much you would save with the new, national Medicare for All Household Savings Calculator! Join us as we chat with Dr. James G. Kahn, who led the calculator team. He's an expert in health policy and economics, an advisor to Code WACK! and editor and primary blogger of Health Justice Monitor, a health policy blog. This is the second episode in a two part series with Dr. Kahn.

This time on Code WACK! What the heck is going on with Medicare for All in California? Can single-payer advocates overcome their differences and finally win health care for all in the Golden State? What’s the significance of two recent bills, Senate Bill 770, and Assembly Bill 2200, in achieving Medicare for All in California? To find out, we spoke to Dr. James G. Kahn, an expert in health policy and economics, an advisor to Code WACK! and editor and primary blogger of Health Justice Monitor, a health policy blog. This is the first episode in a two-part series.

This time on Code WACK! Will California’s new single payer bill, CalCare, be a tough sell for the state’s legislature, even if most of the state’s residents want Medicare for All? What political hurdles must be cleared before such a bill would pass? And what would it mean for single payer efforts if Donald Trump is re-elected president this year? To find out, we spoke to Assemblymember Ash Kalra. As a longstanding champion of single-payer health care, Assemblymember Kalra introduced statewide legislation known as CalCare (AB 1400 in 2021 and AB 2200 in 2023), which would guarantee comprehensive, high-quality health care for all Californians as a human right. This is the second episode in a two-part series.

This time on Code WACK! Once again, a new single-payer bill, AB 2200 or CalCare, sponsored by the California Nurses Association, has been introduced in the California state legislature. How will it help save lives? Will it break the bank, or will it save us money? What’s different about this version of the bill and what kind of support does it have in the state legislature? To find out, we spoke to Assemblyman Ash Kalra. As a longstanding champion of single-payer health care, Assemblymember Kalra introduced statewide legislation known as CalCare (AB 1400 in 2021 and AB 2200 in 2023), which would guarantee comprehensive, high-quality health care for all Californians as a human right. This is the first episode in a two-part series.

This time on Code WACK! Besides the Alabama IVF decision, how else are reproductive rights being rolled back in America? Why are some states going after emergency contraception known as the morning-after pill? What policy solutions are needed to better protect reproductive rights? To find out, we spoke to Vina Smith-Ramakrishnan, a fellow at The Century Foundation, where she works on issues related to maternal health and reproductive rights and justice. Vina’s work supports The Century Foundation’s efforts to eliminate racial and gender disparities in health outcomes. Vina has a master’s of public health in global health policy from George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health.

This time on Code WACK! Where are we today when it comes to reproductive rights in America? And what does the latest IVF case in Alabama mean for reproductive justice and healthcare equity in America? To find out, we spoke to Vina Smith-Ramakrishnan, a fellow at The Century Foundation, where she works on issues related to maternal health and reproductive rights and justice. Vina’s work supports The Century Foundation’s efforts to eliminate racial and gender disparities in health outcomes. Vina has a master’s of public health in global health policy from George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health.

This time on Code WACK! Are regulations meant to protect nursing home residents being enforced? How is understaffing at the California Dept of Public Health affecting nursing home regulation? Are for-profit and nonprofit nursing homes comparable when it comes to the quality of care residents receive? What reforms are in the works to better protect residents? To find out, we spoke to Tony Chicotel, senior staff attorney at California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, or CANHR, where he promotes the rights of residents in long-term care facilities through litigation, legislation, regulatory policy, and consumer education.