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PODCAST

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David Introcaso

David Introcaso, Ph.D.

Podcast interviews with health policy experts on timely subjects. The Healthcare Policy Podcast website features audio interviews with healthcare policy experts on timely topics. An online public forum routinely presenting expert healthcare policy analysis and comment is lacking. While other healthcare policy website programming exists, these typically present vested interest viewpoints or do not combine informed policy analysis with political insight or acumen. Since healthcare policy issues

government & organizations national

All Episodes

24:50

Will the FDA Ban Menthol-Flavored Cigarettes? A...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/08/05

Listen NowIn 2009 the Congress overwhelmingly passed landmark legislation (commontly termed the "Tobacco Control Act") that included banning flavored cigarettes - except menthol. Instead, the Congress called upon the FDA to first study the use of menthol before taking action. In 2011 the FDA released an initial report, the conclusions of which were widely interpreted. Two weeks ago the FDA released a subsequent report again finding the menthol/mint flavor helps people acquire the

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23:56

The Demise of the CLASS Act and the Future of Long...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/07/30

Listen NowWhile the vast majority (70%) of people turning 65 will need long term care services for an average of three years, only 7 million Americans own a long term care insurance policy. Medicare does not provide for long term care and Medicaid only covers long term care costs for those with very limited financial means. The CLASS Act, a provision within the ACA, would have created a voluntary and public long term care insurance policy for employees but the ACA provision, as written, was

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22:43

Pharmaceutical Marketing Abuses: A Conversation With...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/06/30

Listen NowRecently the French government fined Sanofi $53 million for what it called a smear campaign against a competitor drug manufacturer. Ranbaxy was fined $500 million, in part, for making false statements to the FDA. Last year the pharamaceutical industry in sum paid out $5.5 billion to resolve fraudulent marketing practices. These included $3 billion in fines against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and $762 million against Amgen. When these settlements were reached eight of the top 10 global

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28:59

The Importance of Advanced Care Planning: A...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/06/18

Listen NowThe lowlight during the 2009-2010 ACA debate was Governor Palin's invention of "death panels" (PolitiFact's 2009 "Lie of the Year") in response to a proposal to allow Medicare to pay physicians whom voluntarily counsel patients about advanced care planning or directives. The fear mongering was so convincing the proposal was dropped by the Congress and later, via rule making, by the White House. The facts remain that while far and away most Americans die of a long term chronic,

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23:57

Dr. William Rogers Discusses Providing Healthcare for...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/06/07

Listen NowThe homeless of course suffer substantial health problems. The CDC estimates nearly half have one or more chronic health condition (e.g., heart disease, diabetes, cancer), two in five have a mental health diagnosis/es, one-fourth suffer substance abuse, one-third are alcohol addicted. One 2005 study showed shocking mortality rates, the median age of death was 45. Over half do not have health insurance - though homeless adults will become eligible in 2014 for Medicaid coverage in states

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25:46

The ACA and Hospital Consolidation: A Conversation...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/06/07

Listen NowIn 2009, or the year before the Affordable Care Act passed, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (used by the FTC and the DoJ) defined hospital ownership as "highly concentrated" in over 80% of the 380 MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas). Since passage of the ACA, a law that among other things strongly encourages care continuity and coordination between/among providers, hospital mergers and acquisitions continued unabated with over 100 in the past year alone (and over 500 between 2007 and

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28:43

Tim Jost Discusses State Health Insurance Exchanges...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/06/02

Listen NowThe centerpiece of the Affordable Care Act are the state health insurance exchanges where individuals beginning October 1st will be able to buy health care insurance with coverage beginning January 1st. There are numerous questions regarding how and how well the exchanges will function. For example, how may insurance plans will participate in each state, how competetive will these marketplaces be or what premiums participating plans will charge and how many individuals will purchase

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28:43

Christine Bechtel Discusses the State of Health...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/05/28

Listen NowThe health care sector has substantially lagged all other major industries in the adoption and use of information technology. For example, per the CDC, in 2011 still slightly more than half of physicians (54%) used an electronic health record (EHR) (though compared to 17% in 2008), among of solo practitioners only 29% and among specialities only 48% of surgeons. However, since 2009 the federal government has made substantial financial investments in incenting the adoption and use of

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29:00

Matt Hourihan Discusses the NIH Budget (May 23, 2013)

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/05/23

Listen NowAfter the doubling of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) budget between 1998 and 2003, federal funding for medical research and more widely federal R&D has been falling or stagnate over the past several years. Most recently, the federal budget sequester slashed NIH funding by 5.5 percent leading to a $1.6 billion funding reduction in 2013, the largest cut in the agency’s history. (The president's proposed 2014 budget calls for a repeal of sequestration and a slight increase in

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27:47

Dr. Brian Biles Discusses the Status of Medicare...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/05/06

Listen NowSince the 1970s Medicare beneficiaries have had the option of receiving their Medicare benefits via private health insurance plans. Today 27% of Medicare beneficiaries, or 13.3 million seniors, are enrolled in these private plans. MA program growth in the past few years has been rapid, enrollment almost tripled between 2003 and 2012 and the program is estimated to add another 1.5 million beneficiaries this year. Medicare, which pays MA plans a capitated rate rather than on a FFS basis,

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24:48

Joan Alker Discusses What's Known About the Quality...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/04/18

Listen NowIt's estimated the Affordable Care Act will add another 16-17 million lives to the 60 million Americans already receiving Medicaid. Of these current 60 million Medicaid enrollees, two-thirds receive their health care via managed care companies and over half of Medicaid managed care enrollees are in for profit plans. Concerning the quality of care for profit plans deliver, a 2011 study published by the Commonwealth Fund found for profit Medicaid plans did significantly worse than non

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31:29

Dr. Burt Edelstein Discussess Tooth Decay, the Most...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/04/10

Listen NowTooth decay affects US children more than any other chronic infectious disease. It is five times more common than asthma and almost entirely preventable. Between 41% and 55% of children age 2 to 11 suffer tooth decay and upwards of 34% of this decay is untreated. Disparities in dental health, the CDC has termed, "profound." This is explained in part by fact that one-third of the population (over 100 million Americans) lack dental health insurance. That means uninsured children are 2.5

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18:49

Dr. Brian Isetts Discusses Ways to Improve Medication...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/04/03

Listen NowOver 80 percent of Americans take at least one medication, nearly 30 percent take five or more. That translates to more than 3.5 billion prescriptions written every year making drugs the third highest health care delivery cost after hospital and physician services - amounting to over $250 billion annually. While the benefits of medication therapy are or can be substantial medication errors are among the most common medical error. According to the IOM an estimated 450,000 preventable

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31:30

Dr. Bob Berenson Discusses Possible Remedies for the...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/03/26

Listen NowIn 1997 the Congress reformed how it pays physicians under Medicare. The new formula was termed the "sustainable growth rate" (SGR). The impetus for the reform was to control better Medicare cost growth. (Medicare physician payments now exceed $100 billion annually). Largely because of the concern physicians would limit seeing Medicare patients if their Medicare reimbursement rates were cut, the Congress has not enforced the SGR since 2002. Despite the realization the SGR is

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31:30

Ms. Suzanne Mintz Discusses the Work of Family...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/03/12

Listen NowFamily caregivers are the most ignored providers of health care delivery despite the fact they constitute 30 percent of the adult population, or are 65 million Americans. Caregivers are more typically women, over fifty, spending 20 hours a week (over an average of five years) providing care most frequently for a family member typically a parent with dementia. They are literally the backbone of health care. Professionally, caregivers, half of whom work full time, incur lost wages,

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22:48

Dr. Linda Randolph Discusses the Developing Families...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/03/07

Listen NowDr. Linda Randolph, President and CEO of District of Columbia's Developing Families Center (DFC), discusses DFC's unique maternal and child health care model that has drawn international attention for its comprehensiveness and its high quality outcomes. During this 23 minute interview Dr. Randolph offers her explanation for the causes of worse maternal outcomes among minority populations, including higher income African American women. For example, she notes inter-generational factors,

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36:07

Dr. Ruth Lubic Discusses Midwifery's Contribution to...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/03/05

Listen NowFor decades the US has experienced the highest infant mortality rate of high income countries. The US also ranks poorly on other birth outcomes such as pre-term births, low birth weight and Caesarean sections. Infant mortality rates for non-hispanic blacks is twice that of the national average. In sum, about 25,000 infants die each year in the United States. During this 37 minute interview Dr. Lubic explains briefly nurse midwifery and its peri-natal goals, she discusses at some length

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27:21

Dr. Susan Bennett Discusses the Prevention and...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/02/21

Listen NowHeart disease is the leading cause of death for women (and men) in the US, accounting for one in every four deaths, however, among women, only 50% recognize heart disease is their #1 killer. Additionally, almost two-thirds of women who die suddenly of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms. (February is American Heart Month.) During this 27 minute podcast Dr. Bennett discusses the prevalence of heart disease particularly among women and what are primary prevention measures -

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21:45

Discussion with Dr. Steven Woolf on the IOM's Recent...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/02/15

Listen NowIn January 2013 the Institute of Medicine released "Shorter Lives, Poorer Health" a 404-page report that found Americans die sooner, experience higher rates of disease and injury than people in 16 other like high-income countries and that these health disadvantages exist at all ages from birth to age 75. During this 22 minute podcast Dr. Steven Woolf, the chair of the IOM panel that authored the report, discusses the pervasiveness of problem or the diversity of health problems that exist

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27:22

Dr. Kavita Patel Discusses the Promise of Accountable...

The Healthcare Policy Podcast ® Produced by David... ·

2013/02/11

Listen NowOne of the most discussed provisions of the Affordable Care Act promising to "bend the cost curve" are Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). CMS has now selected over 250, moreover physician-led, organizations as ACOs coverning four million Medicare beneficiaries. ACOs offer the promise of improved coordinated care, care quality and reduced Medicare costs. During this 27-minute interview Dr. Patel explains the impetus for and creation of Accountable Care Organizations, how rapidly

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