Curitics Conversations

In this episode of Curitics Conversations, John Gorman and Unmesh Srivastava sit down with Sachin Jain, President and CEO of SCAN Health Plan, for a deep dive into the real operational dynamics of Medicare Advantage. Drawing from experience across clinical care, payer operations, and executive leadership, Sachin breaks down what people often misunderstand about how Medicare Advantage plans actually function day to day, from the constant tradeoffs between cost, quality, and access to the structural constraints that shape decision-making. The conversation explores where integration across utilization management, care management, and population health breaks down and what it actually looks like when it works.  Looking ahead, the group discusses the next phase of Medicare Advantage, including regulatory pressure, operational risk, and where the greatest opportunities exist for plans willing to evolve. This is not a surface-level conversation, it’s an inside look at how healthcare actually operates.

In this episode of Curitics Conversations, Ceci Connolly, President and CEO of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, joins us to unpack the evolving realities of Medicare Advantage and Medicaid. Drawing from her experience across healthcare journalism, policy, and leadership, Ceci shares a grounded perspective on what it actually takes to run community-based health plans in today’s environment. The conversation explores the growing policy and reimbursement pressures facing plans, the operational tradeoffs between cost, quality, and access, and how community-based organizations are approaching innovation, value-based care, and complex patient populations. Ceci also highlights what policymakers and industry leaders often misunderstand about these plansand what the future may hold as the healthcare landscape continues to shift.

In the very first episode of Curitics Conversations, hosts Unmesh Srivastava and John Gorman introduce themselves, share a few “war stories” from their years in healthcare, and explain why they created this podcast. They set the tone for the series with real-life experiences, honest conversations, and the themes they’ll explore moving forward; value-based care, leadership, and what it really takes to improve outcomes in the real world.