APHA Executive Director: $10B in New COVID Funding Needed, Being Spent Responsibly

Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, says the legislative agreement for $10 billion in new federal COVID funding is “really a drop in the bucket.” He says more dollars are needed to build up public health in all parts of the U.S. He responded to some political complaints by assuring taxpayers that public health officials are indeed financially accountable.

Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter also asked Dr. Benjamin about the reorganization plans for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; he says it needs a greater focus on emergency preparedness.

An Environmental Psychiatrist Explains Climate Anxiety As We Celebrate Earth Day

As we mark Earth Day, we have just experienced the hottest March on record. But climate change’s impact isn’t stopping with the weather; it’s also affecting our mental health, says Dr. Gary Belkin, director of the Billion Minds Project at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

Climate anxiety, which refers to having distressing feelings related to climate change impacts, is increasingly prevalent in communities where the impact is the most severe.

And the problem is only getting worse.

Dr. Belkin says it is important to ask, “What happens when there is mass hopelessness?” From individuals to politicians to society as a whole, feelings of hopelessness can hamper people’s ability to problem solve and result in people giving up and retreating from the issue.

A solution? Start small in communities, Dr. Belkin says.

He’s putting this idea into practice through his work as chair of COP², an organization that curates coalitions of experts, advocates, care providers, decision-makers and funders to support projects that are co-created with local communities living on the front lines of the climate crisis.

“What I think is really exciting,” he tells hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter, “is that the climate pressures have generated some powerful forms of local organizing and intersecting actions.”

Masks, Mental Health and Missed Appointments: AAP President Lee Beers on Pandemic’s Impact on Childhood Health

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Lee Beers, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics on their science-based recommendation that all kids aged 2 and older should be masked in school and daycare in the face of the Delta Variant. They discuss their efforts to communicate the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines to patients and their families, and the AAP’s efforts to increase access to mental health services within the pediatric care setting.

HHS Sec. Becerra’s Exclusive Interview With “Conversations on Health Care”

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra joins “Conversations on Health Care” to answer questions about the big issues he’s facing as the nation’s top health official. Most importantly, he’s dealing with the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision turning abortion law over to the states.

Secretary Becerra says, “A woman is three times more likely to die of a complication during pregnancy if she happens to reside in a state that restricts her access to abortion care services. We are seeing women and their health harmed simply because of the politics in that state …we’re doing everything we can to continue to protect a woman’s right to access the care she needs including abortion care.”

Secretary Becerra leads a $1.7 trillion agency that’s also preparing for the fall vaccination season, ensuring Americans eligible for Medicaid stay enrolled, and planning for his department’s new power to negotiate for drug prices.

Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter ask him to weigh in on all these issues in this week’s edition.

Super Sperm Donors - America’s Underground Surrogacy Movement: Author Explains Her Journey

The family planning revolution has a new chapter and journalist Valerie Bauman is both documenting it and participating in it. She and others pursuing alternatives say they’re frustrated with fertility clinics because of the cost, what they call the discriminatory nature of the system and the lack of insurance coverage. Bauman explains how she met her sperm donor and why others like her say it makes sense for them.

Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter interview Bauman about her upcoming book “Inconceivable: Super Sperm Donors, Off-the-Grid Insemination, and Unconventional Family Planning.”

Omicron’s Health Inequities: N.Y. State Health Commissioner Vows to Close Gap

Dr. Mary Bassett, New York State Commissioner of Health, says the COVID Omicron variant is still exposing health inequities — African Americans in New York have been hospitalized twice as much as the majority population during this latest wave. Bassett says achieving health equity “will be the North Star of my working life as a physician committed to public health.” Bassett also tells Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter that the state has four times as many hospitalized now compared to the pandemic lull last summer. Yet she also notes the hospitalization and case rates are going down.

Dr. Peter Basch, Medical Director of Ambulatory EHR and Health IT Policy, MedStar Health

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Peter Basch, Medical Director of EHR and Health IT Policy at MedStar Heath and Visiting Scholar at the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution. They discuss the challenges practices are facing adhereing to ONC's Meaningful Use requirements with health IT adoption.

Dr. John Bartlett, The Carter Center Mental Health Project

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. John Bartlett, Senior Project Advisor for the Primary Care Initiative at the Carter Center. Dr. Bartlett discusses the Carter Center's efforts to better facilitate behavioral health and substance abuse treatment in the primary care setting.

Dr. John Bartlett, The Carter Center Mental Health Project

This week, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. John Bartlett, Senior Project Advisor for the Primary Care Initiative at the Carter Center. Dr. Bartlett discusses the Carter Center's efforts to better facilitate behavioral health and substance abuse treatment in the primary care setting.

Putting Healthcare Above Politics: United States of Care Co-Founder Emily Barson on Medicaid Buy-in and State Based Health Policy Solutions

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Emily Barson, Co-Founder along with former CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt, of United States of Care, a non-profit, non-partisan organization seeking to advance access to affordable health care for all Americans,"putting health care above politics". She talks about their focus on state-based innovations that are improving health care access, and about their Medicaid Buy-In effort seeking to assist states in creatively expanding Medicaid to cover more of their residents.

Hear From the Author Who Wrote the New Book Peace & Health

If we agree that Health Care is a Right, Not a Privilege, how do we make that a reality?

Author Charles Barber has captured the engaging details in the new book “Peace & Health: How a group of small-town activists and college students set out to change healthcare.”

Veteran news anchorwoman Thalia Assuras interviews Charles about how Community Health Center, Inc., transformed the delivery of health care for populations who had been ignored.

COVID-19 Vaccines: When Will They Be Ready? Will They Work? Listen to Leading Expert Dr. Naor Bar-Zeev

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Naor Bar-Zeev, Deputy Director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He examines the scientific guidelines governing COVID-19 vaccine phase 3 clinical trials, including a broad demographic representation to ensure vaccine safety across multiple populations, and the need to address vaccine hesitancy as well as the global supply chain needed to distribute billions of doses.

Dr. John Ball, Vice President Emeritus, American College of Physicians

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. John Ball, VP Emeritus of the American College of Physicians and Chair of the Committee on Diagnostic Error in Health Care at the National Academies of Medicine, which determined diagnostic errors are a major contributor to patient harm and need to be addressed by all stakeholders in the health care system.

Katherine Baicker, Harvard School of Public Health

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Katherine Baicker, PhD, the C. Boyden Grey Professor of Health Economics at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard. An expert on the health and economic impacts from gaining insurance coverage, she discusses her noted study of the Oregon Medicaid Experiment as well as the impact of the Medicaid Expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

Trust for America's Health CEO John Auerbach on Its Report Outlining America's Obesity Epidemic

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with John Auerbach, President and CEO of Trust for America's Health, a non-profit dedicated to making sound health policy a national priority. He discusses their recent report on obesity in America, the dramatic cost to the health system caused by the prevalence of obesity, and the need to protect health coverage for millions of Americans in the ongoing health reform discussions.

Mary Jo Assi, Director of Nursing Practice at the American Nurses Association

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Mary Jo Assi, PhD, Director of Nursing Practice and Work Environment at the American Nurses Association which represents the nation's 3.4 million nurses. They discuss the expanding scope of the nursing work force in the ACA era, as well as the organization's current focus on workforce safety.

Commonwell Health Alliance's Jitin Asnaani on Mission for National Health Data Exchange

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Jitin Asnaani, Executive Director of the CommonWell Health Alliance which is on a mission to make a nationwide health data exchange a reality. They discuss the national network of payer, provider and EHR vendors joining the Alliance to advance interoperability across multiple electronic health record platforms with health data flowing seamlessly from patient to providers.

Dr. Sanjeev Arora, founder of the Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Project ECHO).

Conversations focuses this week on an innovative model of care that’s linking primary care providers with specialists in rural and underserved areas of the country. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Sanjeev Arora, founder of Project ECHO, about how the ECHO model has the potential to increase access, improve health outcomes, and support primary care providers in caring for complex conditions.

Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, President of the National Physicians Alliance

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, President of the National Physicians Alliance, an organization founded to restore trust in the medical profession by eliminating conflicts of interest. Dr. Arkoosh discusses their “Un-Branded Doctor” initiative which urges physicians to refuse payments of any kind from the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, and talks about the organization’s “Good Stewardship” program which calls for doctors and patients to reduce costly and unnecessary tests.

The Expanding Obesity Revolution: New Options

As many Americans start the summer stressed about their physiques and health, there are important developments. Drug-makers report successful mid-stage trials for oral compounds that could soon join the injectable prescription medication to treat obesity that’s already on the market.

Dr. Jamy Ard, president-elect of The Obesity Society, says he believes oral obesity medications offer new options for those not comfortable with an injectable drug and for those who suffer adverse side effects from current offerings. He also believes more choices will lower prices for consumers.

“I think we’re at a watershed moment, this is really sort of an inflection point if you will, in thinking about the potential change in the landscape and how we conceptualize treatment of obesity. For the longest [time], a lot of the basic thinking about how we treat obesity was rooted in it was just a calorie imbalance…people were eating too much and exercising too little. As you know, that clearly has not worked,” says Dr. Ard.

He shares more insights on “Conversations on Health Care” with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter.