About this episode

This episode discusses how to advocate for better healthcare by lobbying legislators, featuring insights from Mollie Montague and answers to health insurance questions.

Learn how to be a patient advocate in healthcare and take your fight straight to your legislators. Mollie Montague of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network breaks down exactly how everyday people can lobby their legislators for better health care in this #CareTalk episode with show host, cancer survivor, and health care advocate Laura Packard from Health Care Voices . Plus Louise Norris from healthinsurance.org and Diane Archer from Just Care answer your American health insurance and health care questions on Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, private insurance and more. This episode has more about recent changes to the Medicare Advantage star-rating system, how to handle surprise medical bills from an out of network provider, why can't you switch from Medicare Advantage to traditional Medicare any time you want, and why doesn't dental insurance cover costly procedures. New episodes of Care Talk every Tuesday, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Text or call in your health insurance and health care questions in to (202) 838-6837 to get answers in future shows! Free or Low Cost Health Care Resources on our show page: https://healthcarevoices.org/caretalk

People in this episode

Host: Laura Packard

Guest: Mollie Montague

Topics covered

• patient advocacy
• healthcare legislation
• Medicare
• Affordable Care Act
• health insurance
• surprise medical bills

Keywords

• patient advocacy
• healthcare
• legislators
• Medicare Advantage
• surprise medical bills
• health insurance questions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, healthinsurance.org, Just Care

More episodes of Care Talk with Laura Packard: American Health Care Explained

• Don't Get Billed: Avoiding Surprise Medical Costs & Medical Debt w/ Patricia Kelmar, PIRG · March 31, 2026 · 32 min
• The Affordable Care Act Turns 16: What's at Stake in 2026 w/ Anne Shoup, Protect Our Care · March 24, 2026 · 33 min
• The Problem With Casey Means' Surgeon General Pick w/ Kayla Hancock, Protect Our Care · March 17, 2026 · 31 min
• The Dismantling of Public Health in America w/ Dr. Stella Safo, Civic Health Alliance · March 10, 2026 · 31 min
• Your Insurance Said No? Here's How to Win the Appeal w/ Neal Shah, Counterforce Health · March 3, 2026 · 30 min
• Why Your Prescriptions Cost So Much (PBMs Explained) w/ Dr. Jeoffry Gordon, Doctors for America · February 24, 2026 · 33 min

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