Food insecurity could soon worsen for millions of families and result in devastating health outcomes. American Academy of Family Physicians CEO Shawn Martin joins hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter to discuss how the government shutdown is putting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in jeopardy. Beginning on Saturday, Nov. 1, food assistance could end for up to 22 million recipients.

Martin and his 128,000 members are calling for bipartisan action to reopen the government and protect families from unnecessary harm.

“We must put the well-being of families first. Food insecurity is not a political issue—it’s a health issue, and every delay in action deepens the harm to our most vulnerable communities."

In this powerful conversation, Martin explores how hunger is showing up in exam rooms, the growing pressure on emergency food banks, and what policymakers must do to prevent a widening public health crisis.

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A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that several Southeastern states continue to report the highest rates of late-pregnancy fetal death in the country. This is the kind of research that energizes Nurse-Family Partnership supporters to build on their mission to positively impact and transform the lives of first-time moms and their babies through a proven home visiting model.

The NFP model connects specially trained nurses with first-time mothers from early in pregnancy through the child’s second birthday.

Sharon Sprinkle, co-director of the partnership’s nursing practice, and Jenny Harper, its government affairs director, discuss with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter the nonprofit’s founding, funding and how expectant moms can sign up.

Sprinkle says too often pregnant women say their concerns were “minimized or totally dismissed, when, in fact, if they were listened to, the outcome would have been better.

Originally broadcast June 5, 2024.

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Veterans Day, which is less than a month away, is a time to honor and reflect on those who’ve served. Yet statistics reveal a troubling reality: Veterans are dying by suicide at 1.5 times the rate of the general population. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among veterans under 45.

Craig Bryan, clinical psychologist, Iraq War veteran, and author of “Rethinking Suicide: Why Prevention Fails and How We Can Do Better,” joined hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter to share critical research and real-world ideas for change.

Bryan challenges the long-held assumption that suicide prevention depends solely on mental health treatment. His work shows that more than half of veterans who die by suicide lack a prior mental health diagnosis, and that firearm safety, access to services, and new therapeutic models can make a real difference.

“Many of us were trained in firearm safety on the range. Now, we need to bring that same responsibility into our homes,” Bryan said.

This interview provides insights about how we engage with prevention and care for those who’ve served, including research on rapid escalation of suicidal crises. Bryan also highlights the life-saving potential of brief cognitive behavioral therapy (which has shown reductions in attempts of up to 60% in trials).

Originally broadcast June 18, 2024.

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The federal government is shut down and the ripple effects are being felt. Legislation tied to the budget impasse also means Medicare telehealth flexibilities and the Acute Hospital Care at Home program expired early Wednesday morning.

“Most providers and hospital systems are taking calculated risks to continue care during this time, but long-term continuity depends on action by our telehealth champions in Washington to restore these flexibilities and ensure retroactive reimbursement,” says Kyle Zebley, senior vice president, public policy at the American Telemedicine Association.

Right before the shutdown he talked to hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter about the situation. “The stakes are enormous. We’re talking about millions of Americans…having access to the telehealth services. It’s a tremendous setback for our community.”

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Happy anniversary to “Conversations on Health Care”! We posted our first program 16 years ago on Sept. 23, 2009. Now, we’re bringing back our first two guests to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going in health care.

Nancy Pelosi was serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and trying to get the Affordable Care Act passed when she joined us on that inaugural show. Today, she continues to serve as Speaker Emerita and remains a stalwart supporter of community health centers. “They’re there…they’ve been there and we always want them to be there…this is so important. I’ve been working with our community health centers,” she says.

Our other returning guest is Dr. Mitchell Katz, now serving as CEO and President of New York City Health + Hospitals. He was in a similar role in San Francisco when he was on that initial program. Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter ask him to reflect on what’s changed the most. “The big successes [from ACA] are getting people involved in primary care and chronic disease management…those primary care relationships are incredibly healing.”

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Dr. Wayne Jonas, who formerly led the National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine, now directs the Healing Works Foundation, which has a mission to “make whole person, integrative care regular and routine.”

“The data is very clear: most health does not come from going to your doctor and getting a diagnosis or treatment,” Jonas tells hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter. “The body is continually healing.”

Jonas shares the story of a man he calls “Joe,” a grandfather living with chronic back pain despite years of surgeries, injections and medications. The turning point came when Jonas asked Joe what mattered most.

“He said his back pain kept him from driving to see his grandkids and getting down on the floor to play with them,” Jonas explains.

Together with a physical therapist, Jonas reframed the goal: Joe wasn’t there for pain treatment; he was there to interact with his grandchildren. A regimen of stretching, hot tub treatments, and better sleep and stress management helped him do just that within weeks.

“He was engaged in his own self-care…his own self-healing capacity had been tapped,” Jonas says. “He saw the results and said, ‘What else have you got, Doc?’”

Jonas’s vision for whole-person care began during his Army service in Germany, where he saw physicians using acupuncture, herbal treatments and other integrative approaches.

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Next week former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez will testify in a Senate hearing. The reporters who cover health care in Washington think there could be big revelations about why Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. fired her.

Sandhya Raman, health care reporter for Congressional Quarterly and Roll Call, and Michael McAuliff, who covers policy for Modern Healthcare, join our Reporters’ Roundtable. McAuliff says no matter what is discovered during the testimony, Kennedy’s future still rests with President Trump.

In addition, McAuliff notes the federal health care workforce challenges right now. “If you look across…all the agencies in the HHS, you would find similar sorts of things where normal processes that help folks in the country just can’t happen because they just don’t have the people,” he observes.

Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter also talk to the guests about the COVID vaccine controversy, the new Make America Healthy Again children’s health report and the looming threat of a government shutdown.

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Supporters say Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is fulfilling his vision to be “pro-safety,” not anti-vaccine. His recent actions have included restricting COVID eligibility, dissolving expert panels, installing skeptical voices and defunding mRNA development.

Michael Osterholm, Ph.D., director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, is pushing back and says, “I've never in my 50 years in public health experienced anything like this in terms of the threat to good public health.”

Osterholm and Mark Olshaker are the co-authors of a new book, “The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics.”

The effort to suspend development and availability of certain vaccines is “not based on science. It's not even based on a political philosophy. These are dangerous decisions that have been made and we will pay a big price for them as we are now in preparedness freefall,” Osterholm says.

“Conversations on Health Care” hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter ask him point-blank to respond to National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya’s contention that they’re winding down mRNA vaccine development because the technology had “failed a crucial test: earning public trust.”

Osterholm responds that “distrust has been sown by the very people who are supposed to be promoting vaccines.” Olshaker says, “We've taken for granted how much vaccines have changed our lives.”

Osterholm adds, “There's still a substantial trust in public health. When you have a megaphone the size of one that the Secretary now has, it does start to basically drown out science … but I think we have to continue to remember that the science is on our side.”

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