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September 20, 2025 • 36 mins

In this episode I’m digging into the state of healthcare in the United States: the only country in the developed world that believes health care is best delivered as a luxury product. Everywhere else, people go to the doctor when they’re sick. In America, you go only if you’re sick and your credit score is feeling strong. They treat hospitals like casinos: you walk in, take your chances, and hope you don’t lose the house on the way out. Other nations pride themselves on how they treat the less fortunate. Americans  think of healthcare as a benefit for capitalist success. If you can’t afford insurance and get sick you’ve been judged unworthy to live.

Troyen A. Brennan is an adjunct professor of health policy and management at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. A former professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the former chief medical officer at CVS Health, he is the author of The Transformation of American Health Insurance: On the Path to Medicare for All and Just Doctoring: Medical Ethics in the Liberal State

Come chat with me on Facebook at The Rational View

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