In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha spotlights a major shift in Medicare Advantage: UnitedHealth Group plans to drop 600,000 enrollees amid financial pressures, raising questions about the program’s size, costs, and overpayments. He then examines a new JAMA study on the VA Mission Act and its effects on access and quality of care for veterans. Dr. Richard Besser, pediatrician and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who served as CDC Director during the H1N1 pandemic, joins to reflect on the once-bipartisan spirit of public health and the challenges of rebuilding trust after COVID-19’s politicization.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• UnitedHealthcare to exit certain Medicare Advantage markets as costs balloon, impacting 600K enrollees — Fierce Healthcare
• Impact of the MISSION Act on Quality and Outcomes of Major Cardiovascular Procedures Among Veterans — JAMA

About the Guest

Dr. Richard Besser is president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), a position he assumed in April 2017 following a long career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at ABC News. A pediatrician by training, Dr. Besser leads the largest private foundation in the country devoted solely to improving the nation’s health. Before joining the Foundation, Dr. Besser served for eight years as chief health and medical editor for ABC News, and as a leader at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he worked for 13 years. He served as acting director of the CDC during the initial response to the H1N1 influenza pandemic.

About the Host

Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Music by Katherine Beggs, additional music by Lulu West and Maya Polsky