Code WACK!
Code WACK! shines a light on our callous healthcare system and what we can do about it. It reveals the healthcare hassles that - far from being just annoying - threaten our peace of mind, our financial security and at times, our very lives. Join us each week as we chat about the challenges that patients and healthcare providers face, amplifying their voices and examining a range of possible solutions, including Medicare for All. Powered by HEAL California, a project of the California OneCare Education Fund, Code WACK! informs the vital discussion of healthcare reform.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 13 minutes
- Episodes
- 292
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
The $4T Elephant in the Room - U.S. Health Care
What’s holding the U.S. back from implementing system-wide solutions to our healthcare woes? How do other countries rein in prescription drug prices? What are the 5 most important lessons about healt…
Shareholders Before Patients - America’s Healthcare Dilemma
Why does the U.S. healthcare system perform poorly in equity and efficiency compared to other wealthy nations? How does the U.S. ration access to health care based on cost? How do other countries ma…
The Three-Front Battle for California Single Payer
What's happening with healthcare reform in one of the bluest states in the nation, California? On which three fronts are single-payer advocates battling? What's essential to winning a healthcare just…
An Offense to Justice & Humanity?
How did Ellen Karel, the chair of Health Care for All-California, come to support Medicare for All? What lead her to advocate for healthcare equity? Join host Brenda Gazzar and Ellen Karel as they di…
Hawaii, Vermont & Single Payer: What went wrong?
How did Hawaii’s effort to establish universal healthcare get derailed by the Affordable Care Act? What’s an all-payer healthcare system and is it an alternative (or a path) to single-payer? What rea…
Mental Health & Medicaid's Managed Care Mess
For Mental Health Awareness month, this week's pod looks at how Medicaid Managed Care affects the availability of mental health services for low-income patients. Do corporate insurance industry pract…
What’s driving U.S. doctors out of private practice?
How do common health insurance industry practices affect doctors’ ability to remain independent? Can doctors stay in business when today’s reimbursement rates in some specialties can be lower than th…
Health Insurance: America’s ‘chaotic deal with the devil?’
What can doctors do when they learn the best treatment for their patients is not covered by health insurance? How are American children impacted by coverage denials and the high cost of medicines? Br…
Unemployed & Uninsured in a Pandemic
How were everyday Americans affected when they lost their jobs and their health insurance during the pandemic? Is subsidized health insurance from Affordable Care Act marketplaces an answer, given ou…
Taking on Corporate Healthcare in America
What would the political path to winning Medicare for All look like? How can we take on the power of corporate health care? Why is it essential that people understand how our for-profit healthcare sy…
'Critical Condition:' How to Save American Health Care?
What impact did having roots in two worlds - Detroit, Michigan and Alexandria, Egypt - have on a young Dr. Abdul El-Sayed? How did his life experience sharpen his perception of the systems of inequal…
The Scoop on California's New Medicare for All Bill
What are the key features of CalCare, California’s new single-payer bill (AB 1400)? Will it save money, or cost more? If we had single-payer, would Californians still have to pay premiums and deduct…
The David & Goliath Fight for Medicare for All
What convinced a global health expert that single-payer healthcare systems are the way to go? How did the coronavirus pandemic impact the existing American healthcare system? Why has the California L…
America's Racial Generation Gap & Healthcare Reform
What about the people who earn too much for Medicaid but too little to afford Obamacare? How has our broken healthcare system taken center stage at the union bargaining table? Have racial and generat…
The fight for healthcare equity in Washington State
How does our corporate healthcare system prevent us from fully investing in the public good? What about its disparate impact on Black Americans? How would we all benefit if our society prioritized ta…
Free to leave? Domestic abuse & health care
What are the traps that can keep survivors locked into abusive relationships? Is domestic violence more common in lower-income households? What advantages do higher-income survivors have when they se…
How America’s broken healthcare system fails victims of domestic abuse
Domestic abuse victims often need urgent treatment for health problems resulting from physical and emotional assault. In many cases, they must find shelter in another town, county or state. How does…
Pesticides, Accidents and ICE: Migrant farmworkers risk their lives to put food on your table
California’s migrant farmworkers suffer from more than inadequate housing, inaccessible health care and social isolation. What are the health risks they face at work each day while contributing to th…
Radio Bilingue's Hugo Morales - from farmworker to public radio mogul
What health challenges do California’s farmworkers and their families routinely face as a consequence of dire poverty? What’s it like to be socially isolated and treated like an alien? Hugo Morales, …
Battered by illness, medical bills in America's South
What options are there for an uninsured performing artist facing financial destruction from medical bills? How does one’s state of residence impact the affordability of health care? Eliska Hahn and h…