The Deadly Design of U.S. Health Care

The Deadly Design of U.S. Health Care

From Code WACK! by HEAL California

February 23, 2026 · 18 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the disparities in health outcomes between Americans and Europeans, featuring an interview with Dr. Adam Gaffney on health care financing and reform.

This time on Code WACK! Why do Americans live about four years less, on average, than people in similar European countries, despite spending far more on health care? And why are so many dying from illnesses we already know how to prevent or treat? To help us unpack this, 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 a former president of Physicians for a National Health Program , and his research and advocacy focus on health care financing and national reform. He's also the author of To Heal Humankind: The Right to Health in History . This is part one of 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

  • U.S. health care
  • public health
  • health care financing
  • national reform
  • preventable illnesses

Keywords

  • health care
  • preventable diseases
  • European health systems
  • public health research

Mentioned in this episode

Products: To Heal Humankind: The Right to Health in History

Books & works: To Heal Humankind: The Right to Health in History, the Transcript and Show Notes

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