New Code WACK! episode
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What’s Being Done to Stop
Pharmaceutical Pirates?
Featuring Hannah Garden-Monheit
Federal Trade Commission
Breaking News in Healthcare Reform
Snippets of news & commentary with a special focus on
health policy, Medicare for All & California
Like Weekly News Roundup? Then you’ll love our popular podcast Code WACK! where we shine a light on the outrageous hassles patients face when dealing with America’s callous healthcare system. Subscribe below!
“Ravi Coutinho bought a health insurance plan thinking it would deliver on its promise of access to mental health providers. But even after 21 phone calls and multiple hospitalizations, no one could find him a therapist.”
“I Don’t Want to Die”: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Network
ProPublica | Max Blau | September 8, 2024
“‘AB 3275 will ensure timely claim reimbursements to small, rural and critical access hospitals while strengthening their financial stability’ said Assemblywoman Soria. ‘With the closure of Madera Community Hospital, we saw this as one of the issues that emerged….’”
Assemblywoman’s Hospital Bill Approved
Insurance News Net | Madera Tribune | September 4, 2024
“California … has not gone as far as Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged when he ran for office in 2018. Back then, he said he supported government-funded, universal health care coverage. That has not happened, and he now touts what he calls universal access to care.”
Health Care in California: How the State Made Almost Everyone Eligible for Coverage
CalMatters | Shaanth Nanguneri, Arfa Momin | September 4, 2024
“The U.S. government’s first-ever negotiated prices for prescription drugs are still on average more than double, and in some cases five times, what drugmakers have agreed to in four other high-income countries….”
US Will Still Pay at Least Twice as Much After Negotiating Drug Prices
Reuters | Deena Beasley | September 3, 2024
“While the proposals do not present themselves as repealing the ACA, the results would be much the same: higher costs for health coverage, loss of protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and an increase in the number of people without insurance.”
Republican Health Coverage Proposals Would Increase Number of Uninsured, Raise People’s Costs
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities | Allison Orris, Claire Heyison | September 3, 2024
“…in January, congressional Republicans negotiated a deal that rescinded $6.1 billion in emergency coronavirus relief funding, which killed the Bridge Access Program, launched in April 2023, that covered the cost for the uninsured.”
Once Free, Covid-19 Vaccines Now Cost Up to $200 for Uninsured in US
Common Dreams | Edward Carver | September 3, 2024
“When adjusted for inflation, Medicare physician payment has declined 29% (PDF) between 2001 and 2024.”
All of Medicine Stands Behind These 4 Crucial Medicare Pay Fixes
American Medical Association | Tanya Albert Henry | September 3, 2024
“I’ve known forever that this is the way it is…. And you just kind of hope that you don’t have to face it in the future.”
The Cost of Senior Care: Why Aging Farmers Fear the Nursing Home
NPR | Juliana Kim, Tim Evans | September 3, 2024
“While both candidates have acknowledged that health costs are a major burden to Americans, the difference will be in how they go about providing relief.”
How Will California Health Care Change Under Trump or Harris? Here’s What Their Records Show
CalMatters | Ana B. Ibarra | September 3, 2024
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Shining a light on ongoing inequities in health care
and the impact they have on vulnerable individuals and communities.
Our podcast Code WACK! brings to life the failures of America’s healthcare system with stories, commentary and analysis.
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