This time on Code WACK! At least seven states are grappling with budget shortfalls in 2024. What goes on behind the scenes when a state needs to cut costs? Who stands to lose the most as programs are trimmed or eliminated? Today we're looking at California’s multi-billion dollar budget deficit – and what's being done to protect the state’s most vulnerable residents. To find out, we spoke to Jodi Reid, executive director of California Alliance for Retired Americans, California’s largest grassroots senior advocacy organization. She has more than four decades of organizing experience on issues ra ..read more

This time on Code WACK! How do Managed Care health insurance plans hurt patients? Why is it legal for commercial health insurers to use Denial-of-Care as a business model? And what is one organization doing to call attention to such issues? To find out, we spoke to Kimberly J. Soenen, founder of “SOME PEOPLE,” a Chicago-based not-for-profit organization and multiverse channel dedicated to removing barriers to healthcare access. Soenen is also the COO of AMPERS Radio Association in Minnesota, but the views she expressed in this podcast are solely her own. This is the second episode in a two-par ..read more

This time on Code WACK! Why do lawmakers continue to ignore the toll our broken healthcare system takes on us? And what can we do, ourselves, to bring about change? What inspired single-payer advocate and mother Rebecca Wood to put much of her activism on hold to “sharpen her swords”? To find out, we interviewed Rebecca, a first-year law student and public interest fellow at the University of Massachusetts. She’s a 2024 Rappaport Fellow in Law and Public Policy and the president of the University of Massachusetts Law National Lawyers Guild chapter. This is the second episode in a two-part seri ..read more

This time on Code WACK! In honor of Mother's Day, we're talking about how our dysfunctional health insurance system affects moms. How far did one mother go to ensure that her daughter – born extremely premature – got the critical care she needed? How did our broken healthcare system push our guest, Rebecca Wood, to delay her own care for the sake of her daughter Charlie, with devastating consequences? How has Rebecca’s life been transformed since she testified before Congress in 2019 about the impossible choices she faced? This is the first of two podcast episodes featuring Rebecca Wood ..read more

This time on Code WACK! With all its apparent advantages, why hasn’t California passed single payer yet? Is organized labor fully in the Medicare-for-All game? Do managed care providers - like Kaiser Permanente - have outsized influence on healthcare reform in the state? To find out, we spoke to Peter Shapiro, a retired letter carrier and author of Song of the Stubborn One Thousand: the Watsonville Canning Strike (Haymarket Books 2016). He represented his union at the founding conference of the Labor Campaign for Single Payer in 2009 and has been involved with the issue ever since. He currentl ..read more

This time on Code WACK! How is private equity affecting our healthcare system? What’s being done about it? How does our fragmented healthcare system affect patients, including people who have cancer? And what cues can healthcare reform activists take from California's immigrant community? To find out, we spoke to Peter Shapiro, a retired letter carrier and author of Song of the Stubborn One Thousand: the Watsonville Canning Strike (Haymarket Books 2016). He represented his union at the founding conference of the Labor Campaign for Single Payer in 2009 and has been involved with the issue ever ..read more

This time on Code WACK! How would single-payer, Medicare for All affect the experience of getting care? Would it make it easier to find and see a primary care doctor? And just as importantly, how much money could individuals and families save under a state or national single-payer system? See how much you would save with the new, national Medicare for All Household Savings Calculator! Join us as we chat with Dr. James G. Kahn, who led the calculator team. He's an expert in health policy and economics, an advisor to Code WACK! and editor and primary blogger of Health Justice Monitor, a health p ..read more

This time on Code WACK! What the heck is going on with Medicare for All in California? Can single-payer advocates overcome their differences and finally win health care for all in the Golden State? What’s the significance of two recent bills, Senate Bill 770, and Assembly Bill 2200, in achieving Medicare for All in California? To find out, we spoke to Dr. James G. Kahn, an expert in health policy and economics, an advisor to Code WACK! and editor and primary blogger of Health Justice Monitor, a health policy blog. This is the first episode in a two-part series ..read more

This time on Code WACK! Will California’s new single payer bill, CalCare, be a tough sell for the state’s legislature, even if most of the state’s residents want Medicare for All? What political hurdles must be cleared before such a bill would pass? And what would it mean for single payer efforts if Donald Trump is re-elected president this year? To find out, we spoke to Assemblymember Ash Kalra. As a longstanding champion of single-payer health care, Assemblymember Kalra introduced statewide legislation known as CalCare (AB 1400 in 2021 and AB 2200 in 2023), which would guarantee comprehensiv ..read more

This time on Code WACK! Once again, a new single-payer bill, AB 2200 or CalCare, sponsored by the California Nurses Association, has been introduced in the California state legislature. How will it help save lives? Will it break the bank, or will it save us money? What’s different about this version of the bill and what kind of support does it have in the state legislature? To find out, we spoke to Assemblyman Ash Kalra. As a longstanding champion of single-payer health care, Assemblymember Kalra introduced statewide legislation known as CalCare (AB 1400 in 2021 and AB 2200 in 2023), which wou ..read more