DC EKG

DC EKG with Joe Grogan

The Economics of Ozempic and Other Weight Loss Drugs

Episode 136.5 (“Prescription Refill” – A replay from the archives)

Original Air Date: May 2024

In this episode, Joe Grogan welcomes Ben Ippolito, Senior Fellow in Economic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss the rapidly evolving economics of GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.

Ben explains the two main c...

In Episode 136 of DC EKG, Joe Grogan hosts Tom Barker, a top drug-pricing attorney at Foley Hoag and former acting general counsel of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Bush administration. Tom helped implement Medicare Part D and now advises drugmakers and policymakers on complex pricing issues. The episode traces 20 years of policy: what went right with Part D, what the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) did, and what effective...

In Episode 134 of DC EKG, former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield joins Joe Grogan to discuss his new book, Redfield's Warning, and break down three major threats to public health: Long COVID, Hantavirus, and bird flu. Dr. Redfield explains the persistent viral reservoirs in long COVID patients, the cognitive dysfunction and autonomic dysfunction that devastate these...

In Episode 133 of DC EKG, Joe Grogan welcomes back Dr. Christiaan Alting von Geusau for Part 2 of their conversation, this time turning to the European Union. Christiaan walks Joe through the post-World War II origins of the EU as a peace initiative built around the Schuman Plan, the pooling of coal and steel between France and Germany, and the visionary leadership of Robert Schuman and Konrad Adenauer. He explains why understandin...

In Episode 132 of DC EKG, Joe Grogan sits down with Dr. Christiaan Alting von Geusau for a timely discussion on Hungary’s election, Viktor Orbán’s loss, and what comes next under Peter Magyar. Christiaan explains why the size of the election wipeout surprised even seasoned observers, why the mainstream narrative about democracy in Hungary misses key facts, and why the new Hungarian parliament remains entirely on the rig...

In Episode 131 of DC EKG, Joe Grogan sits down with Dr. John Goodman to discuss what both parties continue to get wrong about healthcare, why patient incentives still matter, and how market-based reforms could lower costs and improve access. Drawing on decades of work in health economics and policy, Dr. Goodman explains how special interests helped shape Obamacare, why supply-side constraints still distort care, and why patients ar...

In Episode 130 of DC EKG, Joe Grogan sits down with Ryan Long to unpack two policy stories that are driving real-world drug costs and healthcare spending: the 340B program and the fallout from Medicare Part D changes under the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Ryan explains why the current 340B structure can incentivize higher costs, hospital consolidation, and contract pharmacy expansion, while often directing the biggest windfalls to...

In Episode 130 of DC EKG, Joe Grogan sits down with Ryan Long to unpack two policy stories that are driving real-world drug costs and healthcare spending: the 340B program and the fallout from Medicare Part D changes under the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Ryan explains why the current 340B structure can incentivize higher costs, hospital consolidation, and contract pharmacy expansion, while often directing the biggest windfalls t...

In Episode 129 of DC EKG, Joe Grogan sits down with returning guest Adam Thierer, Resident Senior Fellow for Technology and Innovation at the R Street Institute, to break down the surge of state by state AI laws and why a patchwork approach could slow innovation, especially in healthcare.

Adam explains how more than a thousand state AI bills are flooding the zone, what types of “everything bills” are emerging, and why so...

In Episode 128 of DC EKG, Joe Grogan is joined by Kat McDavitt and Lisa Bari, co-hosts of the Health Tech Talk Show, for a practical conversation on what the next wave of health IT policy could unlock for patients and innovation.

They break down the proposed HTI 5 rule from ONC, why it is framed as deregulation, and how it aims to shift the market away from long EHR certification checklists toward one core goal: data that moves. The...

Episode 127

Rural Health on the Front Lines: Dr. Manny Sethi on Access, Private Equity, and Prevention

In Episode 127 of DC EKG, Joe Grogan sits down with Dr. Manny Sethi of Vanderbilt and Healthy Tennessee to talk about what rural health looks like up close and what policy changes could actually improve access.

Dr. Sethi shares his story growing up in small town Tennessee as the son of immigrant physicians, then training as an ortho...

In Episode 126 Joe speaks with Sue Peschin, President and CEO of the Alliance for Aging Research, about what Alzheimer’s and dementia look like in the real world and how policy determines who gets help and when. 

Sue explains the mission and 40–year history of the Alliance for Aging Research and lays out the scope of the Alzheimer’s crisis in plain language: who is affected, how dementia types differ, and why ...

"Obamacare Exempt" Plans - STLDI and ACA Coverage: Costs, Choice, and Tradeoffs

Joe Grogan is joined by Michael Cannon (Cato Institute) to break down short-term, limited-duration insurance (STLDI), also known as “Obamacare-exempt” plans. They explain why STLDI can be far cheaper than ACA exchange coverage, how renewal guarantees work, and why allowing more consumer choice can reduce pressure on exchange risk pools.

They a...

Podcast TitleDC EKG with Joe Grogan: A Healthcare Policy Podcast

Episode124

Episode TitleRyan Long on the ACA Subsidy Fight, Phantom Enrollees, and Reforming 340B

Episode DescriptionJoe Grogan is joined by Ryan Long of Paragon Health Institute and the University of Southern California to break down two fights shaping health policy right now: a California wealth tax pitch framed as a health care fix, and the battle over extending enhan...

DC EKG with Joe Grogan: A Healthcare Policy Podcast

Ep. 122

In this episode of DC EKG with Joe Grogan: A Healthcare Policy Podcast, Joe recaps the first Healthcare AI Policy Summit, held on December 10th in Washington, DC, with his co-host for the event, Naomi Lopez, founder of Nexus Policy Consulting.

They walk through the big themes shaping healthcare AI right now: how HHS is approaching AI adoption, what real regulatory clarity cou...

 In Episode 123 of DC EKG, Joe Grogan sits down with Jackson Hammond (Senior Policy Analyst, Paragon Health Institute) to unpack what the latest CMS National Health Expenditure (NHE) data says about where U.S. health care is headed.

They break down the June 2025 NHE release, compare it to Jackson’s earlier “Paragon Prognosis” analysis, and explain what changed, what didn’t, and what it means for affordab...

In this episode of DC EKG with Joe Grogan: A Healthcare Policy Podcast, Joe sits down with health economist Tony LoSasso to dissect what serious, workable Obamacare reforms could look like without blowing up the Affordable Care Act entirely. They dig into the structure of healthcare subsidies, why current premium tax credits dull price sensitivity, and how that undermines insurance competition, drives up healthcare costs, and threa...

Joe Grogan sits down with James Gelfand, president and CEO of The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), to break down the future of employer-sponsored insurance and the challenges shaping healthcare policy. They discuss how rising healthcare costs affect both employers and employees, the evolution of health savings accounts, and why direct primary care and telehealth represent major shifts in employer benefits.

The conversation highlight...