Episode 889: Arnie Arnesen Attitude January 6 2026

Part 1:We talk with Jan Dutkiewicz, contributing editor at The New Republic, and Asst. Prof. of Political Science at the Pratt Institute.We discuss the promise of newly inaugurated Mayor Mamdani to establish city grocery stores in 'food deserts' in NYC. We discuss this in the context of affordability of all aspects of life in NYC: rents, transportation, health care, child care, and the communities that comprise NYC. Budget issues for families are important.Part 2:We talk with Joyce Frieden, who oversees the MedPage coverage of Washington and health policy. We discuss how Medicare is being changed to adopt some features of the various Medicare Advantage Plans, specifically, around prior authorization. This is a feature that is particularly unpopular with doctors and patients, but is being tried in some markets: NJ, OH, OK, TX, AZ, and WA. The vendors who perform these prior reviews are paid for denials. In addition, we talk about how having been with a Medicare Advantage plan hurts patients who want to return to Original Medicare coverage only, with only a few states that avoid this: IN, ME, MA, CONN, and NY.  WNHNFM.ORG  productionMusic: David Rovics