Coronavirus Pandemic and Congressional Action: Representative Rosa DeLauro on Protecting Families and Businesses Through Crisis

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, on the passage of the Families First and the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Act, two bills passed in Congress to address the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. Congresswoman Delauro discusses the need for more resources for testing and for health systems support, the need for paid sick leave and family leave, the rise of telehealth to meet demand and the need for the public to heed the warnings to stay home through the worst of the crisis.

House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro: More Money for Hospitals, Vaccines Forthcoming?

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, on her expectations for building consensus on revised Build Back Better legislation, as well as the possibility for more relief money for hospitals and other entities in the wake of the ongoing pandemic. She says the expanded Child Tax Credit has lifted millions of American children out of poverty, significantly easing economic pressures on working families, and that it should be restored. Representative DeLauro also discusses the President’s infrastructure law, which she says will have a dramatic impact on the nation’s aging transportation and clean water delivery systems, as well as create new jobs.

Democratic Presidential Hopeful John Delaney on His Market-Based Approaches to Universal Health Care and Addressing Climate Change

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome another 2020 Presidential candidate to Conversations on Health Care, former Maryland Congressman and entrepreneur John Delaney. They discuss his record as a centrist Democrat who favors more market-based approaches to universal health care, which gives all Americans access to coverage, but keeps private payers in the mix, providing more consumer choice than Medicare for All. He favors a carbon tax approach to addressing climate change to foster US innovation to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

200 Million Vaccines and Counting: Emory’s Dr. Carlos Del Rio on Effort To Target Vaccine Resistance

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with leading infectious disease expert Dr. Carlos Del Rio, Executive Associate Dean at the Emory University School of Medicine, and lead researcher on HIV/AIDS and now, COVID-19. Dr. Del Rio applauds the Biden Administration’s achievement of 200 million vaccine doses delivered in the US, but warns vaccine resistance in this country, and lack of supply globally, must be addressed to bring the pandemic fully under control. He lauds the remarkable science around mRNA technology that will have far reaching implications for tackling many diseases.

Dave deBronkart, Founding Member of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

This week, Conversations on Health Care focuses on patient participation in their health care. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dave deBronkart, better known as "e-Patient Dave" about how opening health care information directly to patients and encouraging their participation can lead to better health outcomes.

Governor Howard Dean

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with former Vermont Governor and Democratic National Committee Chairman Dr. Howard Dean. Governor Dean talks about decades-old efforts in Vermont to reform health care, making it accessible and affordable for all citizens, and he shares his views on various aspects of the Affordable Care Act and the future of health reform.

Rocketing with Captain Kirk To A New Frontier: Astronaut Glen de Vries on New Era of Innovation In Space Travel and Health Care

Update (11/12/2021): We are devastated to learn of the sudden passing of Glen de Vries. He was a thoughtful, brilliant guest whose innovative ideas we were lucky enough to hear firsthand on the show. Our deepest condolences to his family. He will be missed.

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Glen de Vries, Vice Chair for Health and Life Sciences at Dassault Systèmes and Founder and former CEO of Medidata, the first cloud based system supporting global clinical trials research. An astronaut aboard Jeff Bezos’ recent Blue Origin rocket flight with William Shatner of Star Trek fame, de Vries points to the scientific advances from the nation’s space program fueling the technologies that now support telehealth and precision medicine. Also author of The Patient Equation, he predicts a dramatic period of exponential growth in scientific and biologic discovery post-pandemic.

Francois de Brantes, Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute Inc.

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Francois de Brantes, Executive Director of the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care costs and quality through better incentives for payment reform. Mr. de Brantes discusses the growing role of the consumer as an agent of change in the health care industry.

Daniel Dawes, Health Law Attorney and Author of 150 Years of Obamacare

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Daniel Dawes, health law attorney, Executive Director of Health Policy and External Affairs at Morehouse School of Medicine, and author of 150 Years of Obamacare. In his book, Mr. Dawes places the Affordable Care Act within the larger context of health reform and discusses the myriad measures in the law that promote health equity.

Dr. Karen Davis, PhD, leading economist, author, and President of the Commonwealth Fund

This week, Conversation on Health Care® talks with one of the country's leading economists, Dr. Karen Davis. As President of the Commonwealth Fund, a national philanthropy engaged in independent research on health and social policy issues, Dr. Davis and her team are highly influential researchers and thought leaders on issues of reform and innovation in health care.

Tough, Feisty, Visionary: Mount Sinai’s CEO On Location at Aspen Ideas: Health

Dr. Kenneth Davis, CEO of Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, juggles a multitude of challenges operating one of the largest systems in the U.S. These include trying to overcome hurdles with a population health initiative as an alternative to the traditional fee-for-service insurance model and defending its Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery. Dr. Davis also reflects on how he and his colleagues traversed the early COVID wave.

Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talked with Dr. Davis on location at Aspen Ideas: Health, a premier gathering of health care leaders and influencers.

Health Tech Entrepreneur Dave Chase on Next Wave of Innovation to Disrupt Health Care

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dave Chase, CEO of the Health Rosetta institute and author of "The CEO's Guide to Restoring the American Dream: How To Deliver World Class Health Care to Your Employees at Half the Cost". Mr. Chase discusses the emerging high tech/high touch trend of Health 3.0, the need to pursue the 'quadruple aim' in health innovation and the growing influence of millennials in health care transformation.

Monkeypox Update from Top White House Coordinator

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator, joins “Conversations on Health Care” to discuss the latest details about this rare, infectious viral disease.

Dr. Daskalakis talks with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter about the spread of the disease in the U.S., the vaccination efforts, and how the entire health care community is careful to avoid stigmatizing any community while focusing on the virus itself.

Senator Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority Leader and author of Getting it Done: How Obama and Congress Finally Broke the Stalemate to Make Way for Healthcare Reform.

This week, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Senator Tom Daschle about the Obama administration's goals for health care, the public's response to healthcare reform and the likely path forward to implementation. Senator Daschle's new book is called Getting it Done: How Obama and Congress Finally Broke the Stalemate to Make Way for Healthcare Reform.

Former Senator Tom Daschle, Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with former Senate Majority Leader, Tom Daschle, now co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center. Senator Daschle discusses the Center's recent report, "Transforming Healthcare: The Role of Health IT". He outlines the steps that need to be taken to speed up the transition to universal use of electronic health records and digitized health information as a fundamental preface to real health care reform.

Is Blockchain Poised to Disrupt Health Care? MintHealth's Founder Dr. Samir Damani Thinks So

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Samir Damani, cardiologist at Scripps Clinic and co-founder of MintHealth, a system using blockchain technology to create a portable, secure health record for patients to manage. Dr. Damani speaks of the game-changing potential for blockchain-enabled technology to let patients self-govern their personal health record, to address the current lack of interoperability in the health system, and to reward patients for behavior changes leading to better chronic care self-management through a token system.

Jim Daley, ICD10 Expert and Immediate Past President of WEDI

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Jim Daley, Immediate Past Chair of the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange or WEDI, a leading authority on the use of health IT to improve health care delivery and efficiency created by the Department of Health and Human Services. Mr. Daley discusses the industry challenges of switching to ICD 10 coding for health billing, and why the switch is so vital to improving outcomes.

Dr. Emmanuel d'Harcourt, Senior Health Director, International Rescue Committee

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Emmanuel d'Harcourt, Senior Health Director at the International Rescue Committee, an international aid organization dedicated to mitigating the plight of the world's 60 million refugees. Dr. d'Harcourt discusses the challenges of coordinating care among the world's NGOs and the World Health Organization and the need to build a more integrated aid infrastructure.

Dr. David Cutler, Professor of Applied Economics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with noted Harvard Health Economist David Cutler, who has been studying the economics of health care reform for over 20 years. Professor Cutler was instrumental in crafting the health care reform legislation during the Clinton Administration and was Senior Health Advisor to President Obama’s campaign. He analyzes the recent Supreme Court hearings on the Affordable Care Act and explores the economic foundation for the health care reform legislation. Dr. Cutler offers a long view of the direction health care reform is headed in light of the current political and legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act.

Pandemic Takes 16 Trillion Out of Economy: Harvard Professor David Cutler Discusses His Research

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with renowned Harvard Economist David Cutler, whose recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association projects the pandemic’s expected toll on the US Economy. Cutler warns that the dramatic death toll, more chronically ill Americans and a contracted economy will lead to a loss of 16 trillion dollars over the next ten years.