
Insured But Still Can't Afford Care? The Underinsured Crisis
From Code WACK! by HEAL California
March 2, 2026 · 16 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the challenges faced by insured Americans who cannot afford healthcare due to high deductibles and corporate profit pressures.
This time on Code WACK! Millions of Americans have health insurance, but still can't afford to use it. So what happens when high deductibles and corporate profit pressures shape the care patients receive? To break it down, we spoke with Dr. Adam Gaffney - a pulmonary and critical care physician, public health researcher, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He's also a former president of Physicians for a National Health Program , and his work focuses on health care financing and national reform. This is the second episode in a two-part series. Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! Keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate .
People in this episode
Guest: Dr Adam Gaffney
Topics covered
- health insurance
- underinsurance
- health care financing
- national reform
Keywords
- health care
- deductibles
- corporate profits
- public health
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: the Transcript and Show Notes
More episodes of Code WACK!
- Designed to Fail: How Insurance Denials Really Work · April 20, 2026 · 10 min
- Why Employers Are 'Flying Blind' on Healthcare Costs · April 13, 2026 · 13 min
- The Health Insurance Black Box: Why Employer Healthcare Costs Keep Rising · April 6, 2026 · 16 min
- States Push Back Against Medicaid Managed Care · March 30, 2026 · 19 min
- The Middlemen Making Money Off Medicaid · March 23, 2026 · 17 min
- The Hidden Cost of Private Equity Hospital Buyouts · March 16, 2026 · 15 min
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