THIS TIME ON CODE WACK!
America’s healthcare system doesn’t only hurt us in big ways – like forcing us to choose between getting expensive medical treatments or living sick. Or having to choose the ‘least worst,’ but always very expensive health insurance policy. It also hurts us in small ways, forcing us to compromise to save a few bucks, to make a thousand little choices that can cost us our quality of life.
As we approach the 4th of July, we’re talking with Dr. Ana Malinow, a retired
pediatrician. She’s helping lead a campaign for a new Declaration of Independence … from the ‘US Medical-Industrial Complex.’ Dr. Malinow spent three decades working as a pediatrician with immigrant refugees and underserved children. She’s past president of Physicians for a National Health Program and is currently on the steering committee of National Single Payer. This is part one of a two-part episode.
Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!
And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.
SHOW NOTES
WE DISCUSS
Most Americans have heard of President Eisenhower’s warning about the military-industrial complex. Dr. Malinow argues healthcare has its own version: The Medical-Industrial Complex.
MALINOW: These are the insurance companies and the middlemen that are siphoning public dollars and get in between our doctor and our care, pharmaceutical companies that hold us hostage, private equity and venture capital that own the delivery of care.
Profit-generating, [so-called] non-profit health and hospital systems that act just like for-profit health and hospital systems, and all the politicians who accept political contributions to work for the industry instead of for the people. That’s the medical industrial complex. <Laugh>
On this 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we declare that it is time for the people to rise up, organize, take control of the healthcare system, and run it in the public interest rather than in the interest of profit. It’s time for comprehensive universal national Medicare for All. Free from profit.
Helpful Links
Declaration of Independence from the Medical-Industrial Complex, National Single Payer
Medical Industrial Complex, EBSCO Information Services
US Healthcare System Is in Crisis, American College of Surgeons
Guest Biography: Ana Malinow, MD
Dr. Ana Malinow spent three decades working as a pediatrician with immigrant, refugee and underserved children in Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, and California before retiring as Clinical Professor of Pediatrics from the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine.
She is past president of Physicians for a National Health Program and has been featured on national and international media on health care reform and the stealth privatization of Medicare.
She is currently a lead organizer for The Movement to End Privatization of Medicare and on the steering committee of National Single Payer.
Host Biography: Brenda Gazzar
Brenda Gazzar, the host and co-producer of Code WACK!, has produced over 300 weekly podcast episodes, with downloads topping 400,000. A skilled interviewer and storyteller, Brenda brings nuance, curiosity, and clarity to every conversation.
Brenda has worked as a multilingual and award-winning reporter with more than two decades of experience in California and the Middle East.
Her work has been published by Reuters, Ms. Magazine, USA Today, Los Angeles Daily News, the Orange County Register, The Wrap, The Jerusalem Post, Cairo Times, and numerous other publications. She speaks Spanish, Hebrew, and a moderate level of Arabic and is the recipient of national, state, and regional awards.
Brenda also enjoys being a life coach, helping people align with their purpose so they feel fulfilled while achieving their boldest dreams.
Brenda’s work is grounded in a belief that systemic change and personal growth go hand in hand, and she’s here for both.
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Website: HEAL California
Keywords:
Code WACK!, HEAL California, Brenda Gazzar, Essential Caregivers Act, essential caregivers, nursing home isolation, long-term care, family caregivers, caregiver advocacy, nursing home residents, elder care, disability rights, healthcare justice, Medicare for All, single payer healthcare, nursing home reform, COVID lockdowns, aging with dignity, social isolation
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uplifting the voices of those fighting for healthcare justice.
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