From The Convent to The White House to Fixing Broken U.S. Healthcare | Broken Healthcare Podcast #92

Katy Talento joins the show in-studio to share her unique journey from religious life to advising on healthcare policy at the highest levels of government - and what she believes it will take to fix the U.S. healthcare system.With a background in epidemiology, public health, and federal policy, Katy brings rare insight shaped by her experience working in the U.S. Senate and advising on healthcare issues at the White House. Her career spans global public health work, infectious disease research, and shaping national healthcare policy that impacts employers, patients, and the broader healthcare system.In this conversation, Katy shares how her early desire to change the world led her into public health, policy, and ultimately into healthcare reform efforts in Washington. She explains how incentives inside the healthcare system influence decision-making, why meaningful reform can be difficult to achieve, and why healthcare costs continue to rise despite ongoing policy changes.We also discuss how employer-sponsored healthcare plays a central role in the U.S. system, why prevention-focused models such as Direct Primary Care (DPC) are gaining attention, and how transparency may help improve healthcare outcomes over time.Subscribe for more conversations focused on improving healthcare outcomes and fixing the broken healthcare system.#HealthcareReform #HealthPolicy #HealthcareCosts #DirectPrimaryCare #EmployerHealthcare #HealthcareInnovation #HealthcareLeadership #HealthInsurance #PublicHealth #HealthcareTransparency00:00 Intro00:23 Welcome Katy Talento01:30 Early life and desire to change the world04:30 Faith journey and decision to enter religious life08:00 Global public health work and infectious disease research12:30 Working internationally in public health16:00 Entering Washington health policy20:00 Writing healthcare legislation in the U.S. Senate24:00 How healthcare policy is shaped in Washington29:00 Speechwriting and political communications32:30 Industry influence in healthcare policy36:00 Why healthcare reform is difficult to achieve40:00 How incentives influence healthcare decisions45:00 Employer-sponsored healthcare and system complexity52:00 Insurance incentives and unintended consequences58:00 Why healthcare costs continue to rise1:05:00 Transparency and accountability in healthcare1:12:00 Direct Primary Care and prevention-focused models1:18:00 Where meaningful reform may come from1:25:00 The future of healthcare policy1:31:00 Final thoughts on fixing U.S. healthcare Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.