Medicare For All Explained

This is episode 110, “We don’t Need Health Insurance Companies.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks discusses why we don’t need health insurance companies.

This is episode 109, “Some Really Good Reasons Why We Need Medicare For All.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explicates some good reasons why we need Medicare for All and comments on some of the disinformation regarding Medicare for All. These following articles are referenced or used as sources in this podcast: 22 studies agree: ‘Medicare for All’ saves moneyMedicare For All Would Improve Hospital Financing National Improved Medicare for All (NIMA): “But How Are You Going To Pay For It?” M4A Math Universal healthcare as pandemic preparedness: The lives and costs that could have been saved during the COVID-19 pandemic What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S.

This is episode 108, “A Prologue to the Future.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why the University of Delaware freezing hiring, pausing projects and curbing travel is a prologue to the future in the United States if we keep the current healthcare system. These are the two articles referenced in this podcast: Hiring frozen. Projects paused. Travel curbed. UD reacts to spiking state health care cost Why companies are leaving the cloud

This is episode 107, “A Traditional Medicare Benefit.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why Medicare makes it easier to move to a different state.

This is episode 106, “Medicare for All Audio Bullet Points.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks uses audio bullet points to explain why we need Medicare for All.

This is episode 105, “People’s Action and Healthcare for All.” My guest Aija Nemer-Aanerud is the Healthcare for All Campaign Director at People's Action. Do not miss this episode as Aija describes People’s Action’s goals, how Healthcare for All fits into their overall purpose, and also describes what People’s Action is currently emphasizing in healthcare. If you would like to learn more or volunteer for the Care Over Cost campaign here is the link: https://careovercost.org/. If you would like to learn more about People’s Action, here is the link: https://peoplesaction.org/.

This is episode 104, "The U.S. Has the Worst Healthcare System Among Wealthy Nations." Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks discusses some of the reports that show the U.S. has the worst healthcare system among wealthy nations.

This is episode 103, “Why Medicare for All Is Better Than Direct Contracting.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why Medicare for All is better than direct contracting.

This is episode 102, “Why Medicare for All Will Provide More Freedom.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why Medicare for All provides more freedom than private health insurance plans.

This is episode 101, “Drowning, Guns, Healthcare and What People Say.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why the response to drownings, gun violence, and healthcare is to let people die and why we need to change that. Here is the article that I referenced from the New York Times: "Drowning Is No. 1 Killer of Young Children. U.S. Efforts to Fix It Are Lagging." Here are two other reference articles on drownings: Drowning FactsDrowning: The Fast and Silent Killer Here is the study from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions for my statistics on gun violence: "U.S. Gun Violence in 2021: An Accounting of a Public Health Crisis"

This is episode 100, “Bubble-Up Economics.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks expands the discussion beyond Medicare for All and discusses why we need to take a “bubble-up” approach to the economy. In this podcast, I quote CBS News. However, in the podcast I do not say explicitly that I am quoting CBS. Here is the quote, “If the minimum wage had risen along with workers' productivity since the 1970s, it would currently be set at nearly $23 an hour, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.”

This is episode 99, “Clarifying a Few Points.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why the free-market will always result in a market failure for healthcare and why the free-market will never provide a viable solution for healthcare.

This is episode 98, "The Reintroduction of Medicare for All Bills and Why We Need Medicare for All." Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks informs that the Medicare for All Act bills will be reintroduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate on May 17, 2023, and summarizes some of the reasons why we need Medicare for All.

This is episode 97, “Some Changes Needed in Our Current Healthcare System.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why certain companies should not be allowed to assist or advise the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, why we need to track denial of care by health insurance companies, why physicians deserve a rate increase from Medicare, and why health insurance companies don’t.

This is episode 96, “Why Does the Government Keep Letting Medicare Advantage Plan Companies Off the Hook.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks explains why, in his opinion, Medicare Advantage plan companies are like bank robbers that the government supports and what needs to be done to stop these bank robbers. Here is the article referenced in this episode: Medicare Delays a Full Crackdown on Private Health Plans.

This is episode 95, “Pharmacy Benefit Managers and Automatic Denials.” My guest, Julie Baak, will discuss Pharmacy Benefit Managers or PBMs and automatic denials, and how PBMs and automatic denials harm patients. Julie is the Practice Manager of the Arthritis Center in Bridgeton, Missouri and an expert in Rheumatology Practice Management. She has testified to the Missouri Senate Insurance Committee on patient access to care. Julie has received a ‘Change Maker’ award from the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), has served as the chair of the Payer Committee at the National Organization of Rheumatology Management (NORM) and currently serves on the Coalition State Rheumatology Organization (CSRO) Payer Response Team. Do not miss this episode as Julie Baak describes the harm to patients caused by pharmacy benefit managers and automatic denials.

This is episode 94, “Why Doesn’t the Government Provide the Same Help to People Who Are Denied Care?” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks asks why the government doesn’t provide the same quick help to people who are denied care by health insurance companies as it did to the Silicon Valley Bank depositors.

This is episode 93, “Fifty Years of Failure.” Do not miss this episode as host Joe Sparks discusses how the HMO Act of 1973 led to fifty years of failure and caused the U.S. to end up with the most expensive healthcare system in the world while having the worst overall health outcomes of wealthy nations.

This is episode 92, “More on ACO REACH and Why We Need to End It.” My guest is Ed Weisbart, MD, and he explains some basics about ACO REACH, why we need to end it, how to end it, why it is a threat to seniors and Medicare, and why we should be optimistic about working to end REACH. Dr. Weisbart is a retired family physician, the national board secretary of Physicians for a National Health Program, and president of Consumers Council of Missouri. He received his medical degree at the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1979, and completed his family medicine residency and a fellowship in family medicine education at Michigan State University in 1982. Do not miss this episode as Dr. Weisbart explains why ACO REACH is a threat to seniors and Medicare, and why we need to end REACH. For information on how to end ACO REACH and protect Medicare, here is the link for ProtectMedicare.net.

This is episode 91, “End ACO REACH.” In this episode, I discuss why we need to end the Medicare ACO REACH program. ACO REACH or REACH is a program that transfers people from traditional Medicare to private health insurance. ACO is an acronym for “Accountable Care Organization” and REACH is an acronym for “Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health.” Do not miss this episode as I discuss why REACH is bad for individuals and the nation.