In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha unpacks the projection that the United States will spend $64.9 trillion on healthcare between 2025 and 2033. He highlights a major Danish study showing no link between aluminum in childhood vaccines and chronic diseases. Professor Erin Fuse Brown joins to explore whether the corporatization of healthcare—through private equity and profit-driven consolidation—can truly reduce costs without sacrificing care quality.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• National Health Expenditure Projections, 2024–33: Despite Insurance Coverage Declines, Health To Grow As Share Of GDP — Health Affairs
• Aluminum-Adsorbed Vaccines and Chronic Diseases in Childhood: A Nationwide Cohort Study — Annals of Internal Medicine

Erin Fuse Brown is a Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health. Her areas of research and expertise include health law and policy, health care finance, health care consolidation and prices, the Affordable Care Act, single-payer and public option health reforms, ERISA preemption of state health laws, consumer financial protections for patients against surprise medical bills and medical debt. She also serves as a consultant to the National Academy for State Health Policy to provide legal and policy resources and draft model laws for its Center for Health System Costs, funded by Arnold Ventures.

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

In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha explains the significance behind the largest U.S. measles outbreak in 25 years, with 1,288 confirmed cases as of last week. He then highlights a major new study tracking two decades of U.S. childhood health trends and rising deaths due to firearms, substance use and suicide. Senior Adviser to the Pandemic Center and former South African Member of Parliament Wilmot James joins to share his perspective on America’s retreat from global health leadership, the erosion of soft power and the risks of being seen as an unreliable partner.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• Measles: restoring confidence in vaccine information — BMJ
• Trends in US Children’s Mortality, Chronic Conditions, Obesity, Functional Status, and Symptoms — JAMA

Dr. Wilmot James, an internationally recognized thought leader in biosecurity, global health, and pandemic preparedness, is a Senior Advisor to the Pandemic Center and a Professor of the Practice of Health Services, Policy and Practice. Dr. James has served as Member of Parliament and Shadow Minister of Health in South Africa, and most recently held positions at Columbia University as Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy and as Chair of the Center for Pandemic Research.

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

In this episode of A Moment in Health, Dr. Ashish Jha highlights the steep administrative costs of Medicaid work requirements and breaks down a new study estimating that U.S. foreign aid programs via USAID have saved 90 million lives in the past two decades, with an additional 14 million lives at stake by 2030 if funding cuts persist.

Professor of the Practice Stefanie Friedhoff joins to answer a timely question: How did we arrive at this moment of rampant public health misinformation? She explains how trust, online relationships, and unmet informational needs shape what people believe—and why traditional fact-based communication can fall short.

Dr. Jha discusses:

• Recent Experience Shows National Medicaid Work Requirements Would Create Enormous Administrative Inefficiencies — Health Affairs
• Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis — The Lancet

Stefanie Friedhoff is co-founder of the Information Futures Lab (IFL) and Professor of the Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health. She is a leading media, communications and global health strategist, and an expert at knowledge translation, information creation, and verification. From July 2022 to May 2023, Friedhoff served as a senior policy advisor on the White House Covid-19 Response Team, focusing on population information needs, health equity, community engagement, and medical countermeasure uptake. At Brown, Friedhoff studies information ecosystems and the relationships between information needs, information inequities, and health outcomes.

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