Code WACK!

Jacked up premiums & chaos? Why your health care is on the line this November

  This time on Code WACK!  What’s at stake in health care with the upcoming federal election? Would Donald Trump really try to repeal the Affordable Care Act - again? Would Kamala Harris continue fighting to rein in the skyrocketing cost of medicine? What will be the fate of Biden-era policies like enhanced tax credits limiting the cost of health insurance premiums? Or access to reproductive health care (including contraception)? With so much up in the air, how is Families USA, a leading national, non-partisan voice for healthcare consumers, responding? To find out, we spoke to Anthony Wright, Families USA’s new executive director. This is the second episode in a two-part series. Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!  

Patient-centered health care? The fight to change our disempowering system

This time on Code WACK!  The fight for affordable, accessible health care in the U.S. has gone on for decades. Who’s in the fight to win solutions that improve health care for everyone? What policies are they working on?  Today we’re featuring the Washington DC-based Families USA, a leading national nonpartisan voice for healthcare consumers.  We welcome their new executive director, Anthony Wright, who previously served for 22 years as executive director of Health Access California. This is the first episode in a two-part series with Anthony Wright.  Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!  

What’s being done to stop pharmaceutical pirates?

This time on Code WACK!  What are lawmakers and the Federal Trade Commission doing about Pharmacy Benefit Managers and their undue influence over drug prices and access? Who is watching out for consumers when the pharmaceutical industry pursues self-serving arrangements? And what’s the impact on independent pharmacies and their patients? To find out, we recently interviewed Hannah Garden-Monheit, the FTC’s director of the Office of Policy Planning. Prior to joining the FTC, Garden-Monheit worked at the National Economic Council (NEC), where she served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director for Competition Council Policy. At the NEC, she was extensively involved in shaping the President’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, and much more. This is the second episode in a two part series. Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!  

How pharmaceutical profiteers are screwing us over

This time on Code WACK! So you might have heard the term pharmacy benefit managers – or PBMs – in the news. But what are they? How did these middlemen get to be so powerful? How are they causing drug prices to skyrocket? And what’s the Federal Trade Commission doing about it?  To find out, we recently interviewed Hannah Garden-Monheit, the FTC’s director of the Office of Policy Planning. Prior to joining the FTC, Garden-Monheit worked at the National Economic Council (NEC), where she served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director for Competition Council Policy. At the NEC, she was extensively involved in shaping the President’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, and much more. This is the first episode in a two part series. Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!  

Privatization ‘on steroids?’ What health care could look like under Trump

This time on Code WACK! As the United States faces an election possibly  unlike any other in our history, we wonder about the future of our healthcare system. What changes might we expect under President Trump, or President Harris? What would a new administration mean for single-payer efforts in states like California and Oregon? And what about Medicare, a lifeline for so many vulnerable Americans? To find out we spoke to the one and only Michael Lighty, president of the Healthy California Now coalition and former healthcare constituency director for Bernie 2020. Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!