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
‘Thrown into chaos.’ The shifting abortion landscape in post-Dobbs America
What are the implications of the Dobbs ruling for people seeking reproductive care across the United States? What kind of burdens will they face if they have to wait days or even weeks to get an abor…
When Having Health Insurance Doesn’t Help
Why is it that many Americans who have health insurance are still not able to get the care they need? How are health insurers increasing their profits at the expense of American families?
To find out…
Punished for being poor? Battling medical debt in America
How is medical debt a racial justice issue, and what's being done about it? What role does the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion play in reducing medical debt and keeping rural hospitals open?…
A perfect storm: racism, chronic Illness & medical debt
Why are Black families disproportionately impacted by medical debt in America? How do inequities in housing access and safety, environmental pollution, and health care combine and intensify the vulne…
‘Where the fight begins.' Provider networks & LGBTQ patients
What challenges do people in the LGBTQ+ community face in accessing quality health care and how does this affect their wellbeing? What policy solutions are needed to tackle these challenges?
To find …
‘Safe Spaces.’ Health care and the LGBTQ community
What special health needs do LGBTQ communities have – and how well are they being addressed? What can our broken healthcare system learn from the retail industry about how to treat clients with uniqu…
Behind the fight against corporate negligence
How does the struggle for healthcare justice intersect with the movement to protect consumers? How do regulations on corporations and their products benefit us all? Is putting profit above consumer s…
The immigrant workers' struggle for life and dignity
California has expanded the state's Medicaid program to some undocumented immigrant workers, but not all. Who gets coverage, and who doesn't? Is lack of insurance coverage the only issue immigrant wo…
Essential but excluded: Farmworkers face healthcare hurdles
Undocumented workers in California contribute about $3.7 billion in state and local taxes each year. They hold one in 16 jobs in the state. What challenges do they face when it comes to getting acce…
Connecting the dots: A legislative path to healthcare justice?
Since the free market has failed to rein in costs and achieve equity in health care, what’s next? Can we govern our seemingly ungovernable healthcare sector? Can we build legislative consensus aroun…
Living sicker, dying younger in the richest country on Earth
Why is reforming our healthcare system necessary? Is there any point in trying to change it, given the power of health insurers and pharmaceutical companies? Find out from someone who’s spent decade…
Growing Old in America? This Pod’s for You.
Why do some elderly patients on Medicare struggle to get the health care they need? What are some of the dangers of Medicare Advantage?Join Casey Hobbs, RN, director of nursing at a Northern Californ…
What Happens When a Nurse Stands Up & Gets Loud?
Is nursing a science or an art? Or is it the art of knowing when to open your mouth? Should "your money or your health" be America's healthcare slogan?
Join Casey Hobbs, RN, director of nursing at a…
Saving the American Economy with Single Payer
Health care in America remains marked by disparities and spiraling costs twelve years after passage of the Affordable Care Act.
Given the divisive political climate in Washington DC, states are strug…
Single Payer: Have We Been Wrong About the Costs All Along?
With all the hand-wringing about the cost of single payer, it’s time to ask if California can keep paying the price for the fragmented healthcare system we have today. Listen and check out the surpri…
'A New Day' for California Health Care?
‘Bottom-line vampires?’ How insurance companies are sucking U.S. businesses dry
Why is employee health insurance a growing burden on American businesses? How are some large employers cutting out the health insurance middleman? Join host Brenda Gazzar and guest Wendell Potter, c…
Who are the 'Big Six' taking over America's health care?
What’s the healthcare industry been up to since winning passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010? Are mergers, acquisitions and industry consolidation improving care for patients? Who are the Big S…
Thom Hartmann on Why Americans Need to Take Back Our Health Care, Like Yesterday!
How is the truth about single payer/Medicare for All twisted by the corporate media and right-wing billionaires? What must Americans do to take back their health care? Join host Brenda Gazzar and Har…
‘Apartheid’ Health Care? Why Medicaid Isn’t Cutting It for America’s Poor
Why should people who have great health insurance care about people who don't? Listen as guest Dr. Paul Y. Song, radiation oncologist and president of Physicians for a National Health Program - Calif…