Reporters Examine Harris & Trump’s Health Care Policies: Election 2024

Early voting is underway in most of the U.S. right now (with few exceptions) and health care is on the ballot. There are increasing signs that former President Trump, if re-elected, will try to proceed with “massive changes” to the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris is vowing to protect the law and continue federal drug price negotiations. Both candidates say they’ll seek to expand support for in-home health care.

Our guests are the reporters covering these issues. Shannon Firth, MedPage Today’s correspondent in Washington, shares an update from a contentious U.S. House race in Minnesota that’s focused on abortion. Sarah Owermohle, who reports on federal issues for STAT News, explains the situation in Montana following her recent visit to the state.

Join Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter for our Reporters’ Roundtable as we countdown to election day and discuss what the results will mean for the nation’s health.        

Health Care & President Trump: What’s Happened So Far

President Trump’s first days in office have resulted in a number of important changes in the healthcare landscape. President Trump has withdrawn the United States from the World Health Organization, rolled back drug pricing policies and limited gender-affirming care. In addition, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., awaits his confirmation hearing to serve as secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.

Conversations on Health Care hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter are bringing together leading healthcare journalists to discuss the new administration’s moves and what they mean. Their guests this week are:

1. Shannon Firth with MedPage Today
2. Michael McAuliff with Modern Healthcare; and 
3. Sarah Owermohle with STAT.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma Talks Expansion of Telehealth, Development of COVID-19 Vaccine and Answers Recent Allegations

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome Seema Verma, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the Trump administration, a trillion dollar-a-year agency providing health coverage for 130 million vulnerable Americans on Medicaid and Seniors on Medicare. She discusses the agency’s dramatic transformation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including hundreds of waivers lifting restrictions for providers across the country, a swift expansion of telehealth adoption, and Operation Warp Speed’s quest to provide a safe and efficacious vaccine for widespread distribution, once it is approved. She also addresses recent allegations around agency spending questions.

Sean Cavanaugh, Deputy Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Sean Cavanaugh, Deputy Administrator and Director for the Center For Medicare at Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where he oversees payment models for Medicare's 50 million users. Mr. Cavanaugh talks about the culture of innovation underway at CMS to promote new payment models that incentivize improved outcomes while promoting cost containment.

Scott A. Wolfe, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Community Health Centers

This week on Conversations on Health Care, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Scott A. Wolfe, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Community Health Centres and Acting Coordinator of the International Federation of Community Health Centres. Mr. Wolfe discusses inherent differences between the American and Canadian health systems, as well as the growth of the community health center model of care in Canada as well as around the world.

Why COVID Crushed Us: Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb Details America’s Botched Pandemic Response

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb whose new book outlines America’s epic failure in our response to the pandemic, leading to more than 700,000 deaths. “Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic” examines the inherent flaws at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public agencies that left us vulnerable to the raging pandemic. Dr. Gottlieb says the CDC and other agencies should be re-tooled to conduct more agile global disease surveillance, and that emerging therapeutics like Merck’s new oral COVID drug will be a game changer for treatment moving forward.

Sarah Kliff, Senior Health Correspondent at the Washington Post/WonkBlog

This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Sarah Kliff, Senior Health Correspondent for the Washington Post and Wonkblog, the daily blog at the Washington Post. Ms. Kliff analyzes the health plans and policies of President Obama as well as his Republican Challenger, Mitt Romney, and examines the potential for changes to the Affordable Care Act should there be a change in administrations.

A Teacher From Parkland H.S. Reflects on the Uvalde & Buffalo Mass Shootings

Parkland, Florida, teacher Sarah Lerner shares her poignant thoughts as the nation reacts to the latest deadly school shooting. Lerner was teaching the day a former student killed 17 at her high school; she has gone on to help lead Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence.

Lerner discusses with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter how public health must continue its focus on stopping gun violence and what lawmakers can do.

Sara Collins, Vice President of Health Care Coverage and Access at the Commonwealth Fund

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Sara Collins, PhD, Vice President of Health Care Coverage and Access at the Commonwealth Fund, a non-partisan foundation dedicated to promoting a high-functioning health care system. Dr. Collins discusses the Fund's recent report showing a marked improvement in the reduction of the uninsured in America since the first open enrollment and the increased utilization of health care among the previously uninsured.

Sara Collins, Vice President for Health Care Coverage and Access at the Commonwealth Fund

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Sara Collins, PhD, VP for Health Care Coverage and Access at the Commonwealth Fund which is dedicated to creating a high performance health care system for all Americans. She outlines the dramatic gains in coverage that have occurred since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and the potential losses in coverage and rise in costs to consumers in the wake of 'repeal and replace' of the health care law.

National Pediatric Leader Talks About Returning To School In Pandemic

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Sara Goza, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the largest organization dedicated to advancing the physical, mental and social health of the nation’s infants, children and young adults. Dr. Goza discusses how pediatricians can help inform the tough decisions families are making to keep kids safe while sending them back to school, the vital importance of continued well-visits and vaccinations for kids, and the policy agenda being promoted by the Academy to insure the health and safety of all children, including gun violence, poverty and social determinants of health.

How Groundbreaking NIH Research is Expanding to Birth-to-Four-Year-Olds

For nearly the first decade of the National Institutes of Health’s “All of Us” Research Program — aimed at increasing diversity in genetic research — a major component was missing: kids.

“Children are approximately 24% of our population in the U.S. and 100% of our future,” Dr. Sara Van Driest, director of pediatrics for NIH’s All of Us Program, told hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter. “In order to provide them with the very best care for the future and have them benefit from this resource, we need to include them.”

The journey is personal for Katrina Yamazaki, Ph.D., principal investigator for Community Health Center, Inc., in Connecticut, a partner organization in All of Us. Yamazaki and her husband adopted three boys through the foster care system.

“We don’t know a whole lot about their … biological families’ medical history,” Yamazaki said. “The idea that this program will one day be able to provide some of [that] missing information to me and my husband, in order to become health advocates for our children is really important to me.”

The NIH in August began limited enrollment in the program for children age 4 and under.

“We started with that youngest age group so we can follow them the longest,” Van Driest said.

Community Health Center, Inc., for its part, is partnering with community-based organizations such as the Hartford Public Library to build trust, raise awareness of the project and make a fun atmosphere through activities.

All of Us intends to change what might be seen as a “one-size-fits-all” approach to health care. It aims to encompass 1 million individuals of diverse backgrounds but doesn’t focus on particular diseases or conditions, Van Driest said. The diversity, too, goes beyond culture, touching geography, age and socioeconomic status.

“One of the goals of research is to connect the dots,” she said. Given the scope of the project, “there will be so many dots that we’ll be able to connect,” Van Driest said.

 “If we fail to include a group of individuals or an aspect of diversity, we miss out on that uniqueness. That limits us in what we’re able to understand about humanity in general,” she said. “It also limits research and learning about that group of individuals. And it limits downstream how clinicians can care about individuals and give them the very best possible outcomes.”

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. Sanjay Gupta on "Chasing Life": CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Talks About His Search for Secrets to Longevity Around the World

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Neurosurgeon at Emory Clinic and Chief Medical Correspondent at CNN, on his new series, "Chasing Life" which explores areas around the world with exceptional longevity, happiness and wellbeing. He delves into the secrets to healthier lives in those places, and also examines the epidemic of stress in America and how it is leading to poor health outcomes and reduced life expectancy.

Retail Care Clinic Industry

Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter explore two models in the retail care clinic industry. They’ll speak with Sandra Ryan, Take Care Health System’s Chief Nurse Practitioner Officer. Take Care owns and operates retail clinics inside Walgreens. Their second interview is with Dr. John Agwunobi, President of Wal-Mart’s Health and Wellness Division about its model of leasing retail space to independent health care providers.

California Health Care Foundation CEO Dr. Sandra Hernandez Says Tackling Big Public Health Issues Like Opioids and HIV Benefited from Expanded ACA Coverage

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Sandra Hernandez, President and CEO of the California Health Care Foundation which is dedicated to improving health care for all California Citizens, especially the most vulnerable. She talks about CHCF's initiatives to combat the opioid crisis, poor maternal outcomes and HIV/AIDS and how a coordinated health care infrastructure and expanded access to care for all citizens are improving outcomes.

CRISPR, DNA and Genomics: Dr. Samuel Sternberg Examines This Game-Changing Technology

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Samuel H. Sternberg, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University and renowned expert on CRISPER-Cas9 gene editing technology. Dr. Sternberg co-authored "A Crack in Creation" with CRISPR co-creator Jennifer Doudna, and talks about the limitless potential of this genetic engineering tool to transform how we treat and prevent disease in the future.

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.

Michael J. Fox’s Foundation Makes Parkinson’s Breakthrough

Emmy award-winning actor Michael J. Fox shocked the world when he announced over 25 years ago that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Since then, he’s devoted his talents to eliminating Parkinson’s in our lifetime.

Researchers with The Michael J. Fox Foundation now have impressive progress to report. They’ve developed a biomarker test to measure the protein alpha synuclein that’s helping to diagnose Parkinson’s with more than 90% accuracy, even proving effective at identifying people who may later develop the disease.

“I think this is going to be a game changer for clinical trials and for patient care in the future,” says Samantha Hutten, Ph.D., a neuroscientist and vice president of translational research at the foundation. “But right now it is really a research tool that can be used to inform research and also how we design clinical trials.”

A positive test, for example, may not be able to tell patients which type of alpha synuclein disease they have, whether it’s Parkinson’s, Lewy body dementia or multiple systems atrophy.

“I think there’s huge excitement around it, particularly about the impact on clinical trials,” says Rebecca Miller, Ph.D., an associate professor at Yale University’s School of Medicine who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2013 at age 38. “We’re all looking for a drug that will really be disease-modifying.”

Hutten tells hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter that the biomarker test is an “all-comers” study, meaning patients can participate if they’ve been diagnosed or have family with Parkinson’s, or have risk factors like loss of sense of smell or REM sleep behavior disorder.

The test comes at a crucial time: the global rate of Parkinson’s has doubled since Fox first revealed his condition.

Coordinated Care for High Use Patients: CareMore Health CEO Sachin Jain on Improving Outcomes

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Sachin Jain, CEO of CareMore Health, a coordinated and integrated health care system focused on high-use Medicare and Medicaid patients. Dr. Jain discusses CareMore's team-based approach to chronic disease management deploying ride-sharing and meal delivery services, loneliness prevention and patient support across the care continuum.