Pandemic Expert Dr. Sheri Fink on Reducing Harm From Coronavirus in US

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Sheri Fink, Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times Correspondent and one of the Executive Producers of “Pandemic: How to Avoid an Outbreak” on Netflix. She has covered numerous catastrophes, epidemcis and war zones, and shares her insights into public health interventions that reduce harm from pandemics, and how institutions and individuals must prepare to protect themselves.

Preventing Veteran Suicides: VA Under Sec. Dr. Shereef Elnahal Outlines Plan

Dr. Shereef Elnahal, the Under Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, says their most important clinical care and public health issue right now is preventing veteran suicides. The data show that 17 vets a day die by suicide. Their work includes making sure vets know that the 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline is available for them.

He also explained that the VA has communicated to the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that his department is ready to conduct clinical trials using marijuana when and if the substance is reclassified as a less dangerous drug.

Other topics discussed include why vets should sign up now for new benefits available through the PACT Act, how the VA performs on various metrics and the latest details about innovations they’re bringing to the entire health care sector.

Join hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter for this conversation as we prepare for National Veterans and Military Families Month, starting on November 1.

Disrupting the Generic Drug Market: Gary and Mary West Foundation CEO Shelley Lyford on Civica Rx Launch

This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Shelley Lyford, CEO of the Gary and Mary West Foundation which is dedicated to reducing costs and improving care for America's seniors. She discusses the launch of Civica Rx - a not for profit entity that will supply low-cost generic drugs to a consortium of partner foundations and hospitals to disrupt monopolies and price gouging in the pharmaceutical industry.

Shutdown Threatens Food Benefits: Family Physicians Leader Urges Resolution

Conversations on Health Care explores Centering Pregnancy

Centering Pregnancy is a health care model that delivers quality care in a group setting and has shown to improve outcomes for mother and baby. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter interview the founder of the model, Sharon Schindler Rising, who is a nurse midwife and Executive Director of the Centering Healthcare Institute.

New Research Bolsters Model for Preventing Infant Mortality

Trump, Harris on Abortion: Reporters’ Roundtable Examines Their Records

Gallup reports that a record-high 32% of U.S. voters say they will only vote for a candidate for major office who shares their views on abortion. Indeed, the upcoming November presidential election will be the first one since the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion. The Washington reporters who cover health care policy and political maneuverings join us on “Conversations on Health Care” to discuss how Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted the contrasts between the parties as former President Donald Trump has issued statements that appear to muddy the issue.

Discussing reproductive rights and other issues are:

• Shannon Firth with MedPage Today

• Ben Leonard with POLITICO

• Sarah Owermohle with STAT News

Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter also ask them about gun violence, medical debt, Medicaid, and the future of the Affordable Care Act and its subsidies. Be sure to listen to what health-related question each of these journalists would like to ask the presidential candidates if given the chance—some of their questions may surprise you!

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.