<p>In this week&#39;s episode, Jim sits down with Dr. Ashish Jha — physician, health policy expert, and former White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator — for a candid look at what the pandemic revealed about how America actually works under pressure.</p><p>This conversation moves well beyond COVID.</p><p>Dr. Jha explains what happens inside government during a crisis, why emergency powers quietly reshape policy across the entire system, and how short-term urgency consistently crowds out long-term planning.</p><p>From there, the discussion turns to the deeper structural issue: healthcare.</p><p>The U.S. is on track to spend roughly <strong>$70 trillion on healthcare over the next decade</strong> — a number that sits at the center of federal debt, state budgets, and household finances. But the real problem isn’t how much care we use — it’s what we pay for it.</p><p>Jim and Dr. Jha break down:</p><ul><li>Why prices — not utilization — are driving costs</li><li>How innovation is both life-saving and financially destabilizing</li><li>Why hospitals lack real surge capacity</li><li>And why meaningful reform continues to stall</li></ul><p>They also tackle harder questions around personal responsibility, prevention, and whether a system can be both compassionate and financially sustainable.</p><p>At the core of the conversation is a broader insight:</p><p>There is a <strong>reasonable 70% of Americans</strong> — not the extremes — who could support real solutions. But they are not the ones driving policy or public discourse. </p><p>This episode is about healthcare — but more importantly, it’s about whether a polarized system can still solve complex problems before a crisis forces the issue.</p>