Medicaid Episodes

Nov. 27, 2023

551: New Website Examines Public Health Priorities, Advocacy Drives Alzheimer’s Policy

Dr. Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer, ASTHO, examines ASTHO’s new webpage with a collection of evidence-based technical packages covering key public health concerns; J.T. Lane, senior vice president, Population Health a…
Nov. 15, 2023

545: Medicaid and Public Health Collaborate, Covey’s Parting Advice

Dr. Shannon Dowler, chief medical officer for North Carolina Medicaid, says healthcare gets better when state Medicaid and public health agencies take the time to understand each other; Dr. Matthew Christiansen, state health…
Nov. 8, 2023

541: Syphilis Needs a Campaign, Expand Your Community Health Worker Force

Dr. Anne Zink, ASTHO past president and Alaska chief medical officer, raises the alarm on the need for new attention to the rising number of syphilis cases in the U.S.; Stephanie Doyle, deputy director for the Bureau of Fami…
Nov. 6, 2023

539: Mental Health in Tribal Communities, Working With Medicaid Partners

Kaleb Roedel, News Reporter at KUNR Public Radio, reacts to a recent Pew survey that documents extremely high suicide rates among Native Americans and Alaska Natives; and Stephanie Doyle, Deputy Director for the Bureau of Fa…
Nov. 2, 2023

537: Presidential Reflections, Medicaid Successes

Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska Chief Medical Officer and ASTHO Immediate Past President, reflects on her time at the head of the organization; Dr. Susan Kansagra (SHO-NC), North Carolina Assistant Public Health Secretary, says her ag…
Oct. 30, 2023

534: Alliance to Solve Substance Use, Advice to Prevent Falls

Dr. Cathy Slemp, Former State Health Officer for the WV Department of Health and Human Resources and now Co-Chair of the West Virginia Hope in Action Alliance, says the alliance is a group that builds collaborations focused …
Oct. 20, 2023

528: Flexible Climate Funding, New Federal Budget Deadline

State Public Health Officials Dr. Umair Shah, Dr. Joseph Kanter, and Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, discuss the public health impacts of climate change; Carolyn Mullen, ASTHO Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public …
Sept. 21, 2023

508: Healthy Aging Challenges, Supporting Maternal Mental Health

Dr. Puja Seth, the Healthy Aging Branch Chief at the CDC, shares a new state-focused program that aims to address dementia; Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman, the Deputy Secretary of Public Health at the Maryland Department of Health,…
July 18, 2023

462: New Power Emergency Toolkit, Fresh Guidelines for Older Adults

Eric Cote, Founder of Power Outage Partners and ASTHO Consultant, explains a new tool kit that addresses the risk of power outages for those using life support devices; Dr. Katrina Piercy, Director of the Division of Prevent…
June 12, 2023

439: Congenital Syphilis Strategies, Medicaid Demonstration Projects

JoAnne McClure, ASTHO Senior Analyst for State Health Policy, details a new report written to help public health leaders address rising rates of congenital syphilis; Alex Kearly, ASTHO’s Director of Medicaid and Value-Based …
May 23, 2023

426: Medicaid for Post-Partum People, Women’s Health Policy Statement

Sowmya Kuruganti, ASTHO Public Health Analyst, explains how Medicaid expansion could increase access to care for postpartum people; Sanaa Akbarali, ASTHO Senior Director of Maternal and Infant Health, says a renewed ASTHO po…
May 9, 2023

416: Vital Records Accreditation, Sharing Medicaid and HIV Data

Melissa Bird, Bureau Chief for the Iowa Bureau of Health Statistics, explains why vital records accreditation is important to public health; Rachel Scheckman, ASTHO Senior Policy Analyst, says new data sharing techniques in …
Jan. 26, 2023

344: Maine Loves Dr. Shah, Territories Moving Forward

Dr. Nirav Shah, ASTHO Immediate Past President and Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control, reflects on his work in the state of Maine as he readies for his next job as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…
Jan. 10, 2023

333: COVID-19 Booster Strategy, Medicaid Policies

Dr. Marcus Plescia, ASTHO Chief Medical Officer, says public health agencies are increasing the focus on COVID-19 boosters for those living in nursing homes and other care settings; Alex Kearly, ASTHO's Director of Medicaid …
Oct. 28, 2022

293: Delaware Youth Go Positive in New Campaign

Katie Capelli, an Epidemiologist in the Office of Health Crisis Response at the Delaware Division of Public Health, discusses a new public service campaign to promote a positive, drug free, lifestyle to youth across the stat…