Stressing Over Health Care
Can we overcome the politics that have made health care policy such an intractable problem?
It’s no secret that President Trump is not a fan of his predecessor’s signature achievement: Obamacare. But after nine months of fits and starts, Republican efforts to repeal the law have struggled to make any headway through Congress.
It’s easy enough to understand why. Healthcare has long been the subject of deep political division in the United States. While few seem happy with the way things are, finding common ground on how to fix it has thus far proven futile.
This week on PolicyCast we’re joined by former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, as well as former Doctors for America CEO Alice Chen as they react to some of the most recent developments in the ongoing health care debate, while also taking the long view in their appraisal of whether and how we might overcome the political stalemate.
Vice Admiral Murthy and Dr. Chen, who were on campus to give a talk at the Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, also discuss the oft-neglected impact of loneliness-induced stress on health outcomes in the United States, pointing to growing evidence that increasing rates of social isolation have had significant negative consequences across the country.
Each week on PolicyCast, Host Matt Cadwallader (@mattcad) explores the ways individuals make democracy work by speaking with some of the world’s leading experts in public policy, media, and international affairs about their experiences confronting our most pressing public problems.
