This time on Code WACK! For many Americans getting the right medical care isn't just about what their doctors recommend, it's also about what their insurance company is willing to cover. So what happens when those two don't agree? And why can it be so difficult for patients to fight back? Attorney Lisa Kantor of Kantor & Kantor, LLP has spent more than two decades helping patients challenge health insurance denials. Her cases have ranged from eating disorders to life-threatening cancers, giving her a firsthand look at how insurers make coverage decisions and the consequences when they favor profits over patients. This is the second episode in a two-part series. Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.  

This time on Code WACK! In the United States, as many as 30 million people are affected by eating disorders, including many children and adolescents, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that affect both mental and physical health.  How well does our corporate healthcare system respond to illnesses as complex as eating disorders? What happens when an insurance company decides treatment is costing too much, and pressures a patient to go home? Can your insurer really cut off coverage? And what if that decision turns out to be not just wrong, but catastrophic?  In "When Insurance Cuts Eating Disorder Care Too Soon," host Brenda Gazzar speaks with Lisa Kantor, Founding Partner of Kantor & Kantor, LLP, about what can happen when insurers end coverage before a patient is medically ready to leave treatment. This is part one of a two-part episode. Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!  And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.   

THIS TIME ON CODE WACK! Is it really normal that the health insurance we pay for often doesn't fully protect us? It may be 'normal' but is it right? Millions of Americans face soaring healthcare costs, coverage denials, medical debt, job lock, and even hospital closures. Have we simply come to accept these realities as part of life? Retired pediatrician and healthcare reform advocate Dr. Ana Malinow says they don't have to be. After three decades caring for immigrant, refugee, and underserved children, Dr. Malinow believes America is at a pivotal moment to rethink its healthcare system. As America marks 250 years of independence, she's helping lead a campaign calling for a "Declaration of Independence from the U.S. Medical-Industrial Complex" and a national single-payer healthcare system. Dr. Malinow is the former president of Physicians for a National Health Program and currently serves on the steering committee of National Single Payer. This is Part 2 of a two-part episode. Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.   

This time on Code WACK! America's healthcare system doesn't only hurt us in big ways - like forcing us to choose between getting expensive medical treatments or living sick. Or having to choose the 'least worst,' but always very expensive health insurance policy. It also hurts us in small ways, forcing us to compromise to save a few bucks, to make a thousand little choices that can cost us our quality of life.  As we approach the 4th of July, we're talking with Dr. Ana Malinow, a retired pediatrician. She's helping lead a campaign for a new Declaration of Independence … from the 'US Medical-Industrial Complex.' Dr. Malinow spent three decades working as a pediatrician with immigrant refugees and underserved children. She's past president of Physicians for a National Health Program and is currently on the steering committee of National Single Payer. This is part one of a two-part episode. Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate. 

This time on Code WACK!   Imagine being cut off from Mom - a nursing home resident - for months. You can't bring her favorite foods, or help dress her, hug her, or even hold her hand. For thousands of families during the COVID-19 pandemic, this became a heartbreaking reality. And without new laws, advocates say, it could very well happen again. That's why they are fighting to ensure our loved ones are never again separated from those they depend on most in nursing homes and other long-term care settings Today we're speaking with Tony Chicotel, senior staff attorney with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, or CANHR. For decades, Tony has fought to protect the rights of nursing home residents. And he says the isolation and neglect that families experienced during COVID was one of the most painful chapters of his career. This is part two of a two-part series on the Essential Caregiver's Act.  Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!  And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate. 

This time on Code WACK! What role do family members and friends play in the lives of nursing home residents? When COVID hit, how were residents impacted when their loved ones were no longer allowed to visit them?  Today, we share the story of Melody Taylor Stark, who became an advocate for the Essential Caregivers Act after her husband, a retired dentist and nursing home resident, dramatically declined, then died, after being denied her daily visits during the dark days of COVID.  Melody is a founding member of Essential Caregivers Coalition, a member of Caregivers for Compromise, and San Gabriel Valley Disability Collaborative, and Facebook co-administrator for Aging Enlightened, a group that was begun by a prominent reporter for Kaiser Health News. She works diligently to advance positive system changes in disability rights and long-term care. This is part one of a two-part series on the Essential Caregiver's Act.  Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.  

This time on Code WACK!  What happens when we get too sick to work in a healthcare system that is tied to our jobs? What is the ultimate cost?  The story of New York Health Act advocate Mariana Pineda is a case in point.  After developing Long COVID, Mariana spent years navigating the same fragmented healthcare system she was fighting to change. She lost her job. She lost her health insurance. She lost her home. And earlier this year, in March, 2026, she lost her life. Mariana was just 46 years old. This is part two of a two-part series featuring tri-chair of the New York State Poor People's Campaign Susan Karbiner and LGBTQ and healthcare justice advocate Carly Paris. Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate. 

This time on Code WACK!  This is the story of a dedicated advocate, organizer, and powerful voice in the fight for healthcare justice - Mariana Pineda. Mariana was a teacher in the Roosevelt School District, Nassau County, Long Island, until she caught a serious case of COVID complicated by pre-existing conditions, including asthma and heart problems. No longer able to work, she lost her employer-sponsored health insurance. Desperate to have some kind of coverage, she spent down her savings on COBRA. Despite financial help from friends, Mariana eventually ended up in a homeless shelter with her young son, Max, where they suffered from cockroaches and bedbugs. Yet through it all, Mariana never stopped advocating for people's rights. A social justice activist and tireless organizer, she could command a rally one minute and spend the next making sure everyone had something to eat. And before she died earlier this year at age 46… she spent years fighting for healthcare as a human right. This is part one of a two-part series about Mariana Pineda, single mom, teacher, and healthcare justice fighter. Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!  And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.

This time on Code WACK!  For millions of Americans, health care means fighting insurance companies, putting off costly treatment, wondering whether the hospital you prefer is in-network, or fearing financial disaster if you get seriously sick. But what if healthcare worked differently? This is part two of our conversation with Dr. Bernard Ho, an emergency physician in Toronto and vice chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare, a national evidence-based organization working to strengthen Canada's publicly funded healthcare system. He is a lecturer at the University of Toronto, where he also earned his M.D. Bernard is currently completing his Masters of Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School.  Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more! And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.   

This time on Code WACK!  Today we're taking an inside look at Canada's public health insurance system known as Medicare. What are the biggest misconceptions Americans have about it?  What works, what doesn't, and why? And what happens when a public system starts drifting toward privatization?  This is part one of our conversation with Dr. Bernard Ho, an emergency physician in Toronto and Vice-Chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare, a national evidence-based organization working to strengthen Canada's publicly funded healthcare system. He is a lecturer at the University of Toronto, where he also earned his M.D. Bernard is currently completing his Masters of Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School.  Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!  And please keep Code WACK! on the air with a tax-deductible donation at heal-ca.org/donate.