New from Code WACK,A new sheriff in town? How one state is fighting high healthcare costs

The New Year is ringing in higher health care premiums while U.S. life expectancy continues to fall. Despite spending more on health care than any other country, we don’t seem to be getting much bang for our bucks! For instance, in 2023 American men can expect to live only 73 years while Frenchmen can expect to live to age 80 - nearly 10% longer! What’s the link between lower life expectancy and higher healthcare costs? And what can we do about it? To find out we spoke to Ian Lewis, the policy director for Unite Here Local 2, a union of over 15,000 hospitality workers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ian previously served as a research director for the National Union of Healthcare workers and is a board member of California's Office of Healthcare Affordability established in 2022. This is the first episode in a two-part series.