Conversations on Health Care

A nurse in a Baltimore laundromat might be testing one of the most important ideas in American health care: what if care started before you ever needed the emergency room? Organizations from NPR to the Milbank Memorial Fund are closely watching the Neighborhood Nursing program that the top-ranked Johns Hopkins School of Nursing has brought […] The post The Nurse at the Laundromat: An Innovative Model appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.

Many viewers know Becky Quick as the steady voice on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” where she explains what’s happening on Wall Street and interviews the world’s top business leaders. Now, she joins Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter to share a very different story, one she lived privately for years while navigating her daughter’s rare genetic diagnosis. Quick’s […] The post Why CNBC’s Becky Quick is Bullish on Rare Disease Cures: Her Family’s Story appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.

Over 1 million subscribers (and more online) read Dr. Dhruv Khullar’s insightful columns in The New Yorker and now our hosts are asking him the tough questions. Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter ask him about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They note that just 8% of the public has faith in the agency’s […] The post The New Yorker’s Dr. Khullar: Restoring Trust in CDC Could Take “Decades” appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.

Nearly 70% of young people say they want to quit nicotine this year. But as the market rapidly evolves, quitting is becoming more complicated. Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Kathy Crosby, President and CEO of the Truth Initiative, about a growing disconnect between regulation and reality in the e-cigarette market and what […] The post Your Role in Truth Initiative’s New Vape Battle appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.

Americans have more economic anxiety about health care costs than anything else, according to a KFF poll. “Conversations on Health Care” hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter are at the Reporters’ Roundtable to break down the policy debates and real-world impacts behind those concerns. Joining the roundtable are: Nada Hassanein of Stateline, Michael McAuliff of […] The post Reporters’ Roundtable: High Cost of Health Care appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.

Six years after the pandemic began, millions are still living with Long COVID. New research shows why recovery looks so different from person to person. Dr. Bruce Levy and Tanayott Thaweethai, Ph.D., of Mass General Brigham, speak with hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter about their National Institutes of Health-funded RECOVER study published in Nature […] The post Long COVID Latest: What are the Unique Patterns? appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.

One of the first steps in creating your “digital twin” is already taking place at innovative medical centers across the U.S. Boston Children’s Hospital and 20 other centers like it are using 3D cardiac models to improve pediatric heart surgery and help families better understand their child’s care. The 3D visualization program creates patient-specific digital […] The post 3D Models to Guide Surgery: Not Science Fiction appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.

Join “Conversations on Health Care” hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter to learn why Dr. Dorsey believes cleaning up our environment may be one of the most powerful public health tools we have right now. The post Is Parkinson’s Preventable? Our Guest Says Yes appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.

The new Rural Health Transformation Program aims to improve “healthcare access, quality, and outcomes” with $50 billion aimed at making changes to the healthcare delivery ecosystem. Keeping an eye on the state applications, the federal money awarded and how it will be used is Sarah Jane Tribble, lead rural health reporter at KFF Health News. […] The post KFF Health News Covers $50 Billion Rural Health Transformation: Latest Details appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.

Health care policy faced major upheavals during the past 12 months and the effects are already being felt. On this special 2025 Rewind and Look Ahead episode of “Conversations on Health Care,” hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter reflect on the moments that defined the year and what may come next. This episode is Part […] The post 2025 Rewind: Our guests recount the promises and hurdles appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.

Originally broadcast December 11, 2025 Congress is scrambling to find a solution to the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the year. Without action, premiums are set to rise sharply for millions of Americans, creating a major health care cliff as 2026 approaches. Congressional reporters Sandhya Raman (CQ Roll Call) […] The post Congress Races to Find Obamacare Subsidy Solution: Reporters Examine the Efforts appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.

Leading nutritionist Marion Nestle, Ph.D., has a sobering message as we get ready for Thanksgiving: America’s food system delivers twice the calories we need while wasting 40%. “Thanksgiving provides five times the calories we need,” she points out. Her advice? “It is a week in which you just have to do the best you can.” […] The post Can You Have a ‘Healthy’ Thanksgiving? How the Food Industry Conspires Against Us appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.

Originally broadcast November 13, 2025 What if health care for moms and babies came with a cash prescription for them? In this Conversations on Health Care episode, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter welcome back Dr. Mona Hanna, the Flint pediatrician whose research exposed the city’s water crisis and sparked a national reckoning on environmental […] The post “Cash for Moms and Babies”: How it Works & Why appeared first on Healthy Communities Online.