Conversations on Health: How We Get There - with Stephani Shelton

As I record this – at the end of the second week in October 2025 – the US government is officially shut down. Senate and House Democrats are demanding negotiations with Republicans and President Trump to restore  major health care cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act marketplace subsidies for 2026. It’s expected that if these cuts aren’t restored – and restored quickly - insurance premiums will double or even triple. And mi...

UPDATE 9/22/25; There was no real study released in late September, as expected, on a potential causal relationship between autism and Tylenol. Instead we got, basically, a rambling statement from President Trump (with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.at his side) warning that pregnant women should ask their doctors before taking Tylenol. (Already a protocol). The President  – citing no evidence - told pregnant women  just “tough...

The cornerstone of any healthcare system is the general practitioner or GP. In the US we’ve renamed the GP to the rather cold sounding “primary care doctor”. Perhaps because so few of us still have that old multi-year connection with our doctor or perhaps because of the way our huge health insurance companies function. In the last podcast – Episode 35 - we talked about the UK’s still ailing health system – the NHS – a year after th...

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service was founded in 1948 and is considered the mother of all government run health care systems - with Sweden’s slightly later plan for universal coverage just behind. We’ve profiled both systems on this podcast series. But we’re going back to take another look at the NHS --almost exactly one year after labor won a huge parliamentary victory. And the new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and hi...

What do we actually know about autism? Not enough according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – the Health and Human Services Secretary.  He’s promised an initial 50 million dollars for his plan to find out what exactly causes autism. With an unusually short turnaround for research proposals . Remember Kennedy first promised he’d have all the answers by September but then extended that to March and now it appears by the funding guidelines i...

It’s no secret our population is aging fast. According to the US  Census Bureau, 10,000 Baby Boomers hit that 65 landmark year each day. In fact 2025 is predicted to be “peak 65” demographically – with more than 11,000 Boomers crossing the daily line. Unfortunately as we age – more of us develop dementia and Alzheimer’s – with most of the associated costs paid by Medicare. It’s estimated that for Alzheimer’s care alone – costs are ...

Most of you know something about the opioid crisis. It’s considered one of the most devastating public health catastrophes of our time.

Just to summarize briefly – the first wave of deaths began in the mid 1990s when Purdue Pharma’s newly approved pain drug OxyContin was pushed to doctors. Purdue had lied to the FDA, saying OxyContin was less addictive than other opioids. It was, actually, even more addictive. Then came the wave of...

Have you ever been hit by a huge medical bill when you thought your health insurance would be covering most of it? Do you know that unpaid medical bills are one of the top reasons Americans declare personal bankruptcy? Well, meet Frank Lobb. He’s a retired navy pilot whose later managerial background in law and compliance had nothing to do with health care. But some years ago Lobb had a very frustrating and ultimately tragic fight ...

UPDATE: The Trump administration has decided Medicare will NOT pay for the popular GLP-1 drugs just for weight loss. It would have cost the government nearly $40 Billion over 10 years.

Perhaps the hottest, most divisive topic in health care is obesity. Which in the US appears to have stabilized in 2024 at about 40% of adults. Is obesity a disease or a lifestyle result? How does it affect overall health and what diseases can it caus...

Is women’s health moving backward?  

The Supreme Court’s Dobbs Decision in 2022 overturned what most women believed was settled law – the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision - establishing a constitutional right to abortion. Since Dobbs, many states - especially in the South and Midwest - have banned abortions for any reason or tightly restricted them.  Leaving many women in medically dangerous conditions. Even before Dobbs – the Un...

Late word from CMS – Medicare will keep covering telehealth use through March. Congress must OK a further extension.

Lots of us became well-acquainted with telemedicine during the pandemic. And while many of us have gone back to office appointments with our doctors – telemedicine remains useful. Especially for mental health issues. How useful? Well – recently I logged onto a fascinating Health Affairs Journal webinar on telemedicin...

 Open enrollment for Medicare supplement plans, which continues until December 7, runs somewhat concurrently with the annual sign up period for the Affordable Care Act plans - commonly called Obamacare. The plans became available on state marketplaces on November 1 and the window closes on December 15 for coverage beginning January 1. We explained the major Medicare changes for 2025 in Episode 26 - check it out if you or someone in...

Once again it’s open enrollment time for Medicare plans - which runs for just 6 weeks each year - from October 15 until December 7th. Millions more Americans who don’t get health insurance through their jobs or Medicaid can find or change so-called Obamacare insurance plans from November 1st through January 15th of next year. 

In this episode we’re concentrating on the biggest changes to Medicare for 2025, including qualifications ...

Health experts in many countries – including the United States – are looking beyond standard health care and medical treatments to some kind of community-based care.  Both as a way to improve people’s general health - and as a way to cut the spiraling costs of medical procedures and new drugs.

The Netherlands appears to be well ahead of most countries with its varied efforts to re-invent what is generally called “social care” - sta...

Do you know someone – perhaps in your own family – who has spent time in a rehabilitation facility? Maybe after an illness or operation? Lots of people – and particularly older people who live alone – find themselves in rehab or long term care facilities. These are somewhat different from the assisted living or independent care communities we talked about in Episode 10 - when we explored one family’s exhaustive effort to find a pla...

We’re spending some time this summer revisiting the UK’s National Health Service. It’s celebrating its 76th birthday this month – although I doubt anyone would use that exact word. Actually, right after the Labor Party swept the UK parliamentary elections on July 4th – both the new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his new Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said flat out that the NHS is broken. Both promised to save i...

As the US Surgeon General calls for a social media warning label similar to the one on cigarettes and alcohol, we focus on child and teenage mental health in this somewhat longer than usual episode. And about halfway through – we get into a really good discussion on that really big issue: the role of social media in the growing problems of Gen Z and the youngest children – Gen Alpha.

We’re talking about all this with a child psychi...

How many times have we all asked – when will they find a cure for cancer? Of course there is no one cure any more than there is just one type of cancer. Each one requires its own research pathway. But there have been great strides in recent years. Some cancers which used to be a death sentence can now be basically cured or turned into treatable, chronic illnesses.

My guest for this episode is Theodore Lawrence, MD, PhD. He’s a Prof...

This may surprise you with all the medical advances we’ve made in the last decade --but heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the US. As it has been since 1921. A recent poll conducted for the American Heart Association found 51 percent of respondents had no idea! According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  – one person dies every 33 seconds in the US from cardiovascular disease. And this may also sur...