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The Doctor's Lounge

Rojas Media

26 episodes

20 hours ago

Send us a text 📌 Episode Overview: In this episode, the co-hosts dive into the complexities of healthcare policy, discussing the impact of ACA subsidies, the role of insurance companies, and the potential for HSAs to empower patients. They explore the challenges of healthcare costs, the influence of government subsidies, and the need for a competitive marketplace. 👥 Co-Hosts: Anthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neurosurgeon, UCSF; health policy researcherAnish Koka, MD – Cardiologist, Philadelphia; ...

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Send us a text 📌 Episode Overview: In this episode, the co-hosts dive into the complexities of healthcare policy, discussing the impact of ACA subsidies, the role of insurance companies, and the potential for HSAs to empower patients. They explore the challenges of healthcare costs, the influence of government subsidies, and the need for a competitive marketplace. 👥 Co-Hosts: Anthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neurosurgeon, UCSF; health policy researcherAnish Koka, MD – Cardiologist, Philadelphia; ...

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Episodes (20/26)

The Doctor's Lounge

The Hidden Costs of Coverage: Why Subsidies Can’t Fix Healthcare

Send us a text 📌 Episode Overview: In this episode, the co-hosts dive into the complexities of healthcare policy, discussing the impact of ACA subsidies, the role of insurance companies, and the potential for HSAs to empower patients. They explore the challenges of healthcare costs, the influence of government subsidies, and the need for a competitive marketplace. 👥 Co-Hosts: Anthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neurosurgeon, UCSF; health policy researcherAnish Koka, MD – Cardiologist, Philadelphia; ...

20 hours ago

1 hour 4 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

The Healthcare Fallacy: How Big Systems Broke the Market

Send us a text Show Link: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-153-8-201010190-00274 Why Listen 👥 In this episode, the hosts delve into the complexities of the healthcare system, discussing the impact of large hospital systems as major employers, the broken window fallacy in healthcare, and the challenges of high premiums. They explore the historical context of certificate of need laws and site of service differentials, and how these contribute to rising healthcare costs. The con...

1 week ago

1 hour 2 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Behind the Bill: What’s Really Driving Healthcare Costs

Send us a text Why Listen 👥 In this episode, the hosts delve into the complexities of healthcare costs, the impact of policy decisions, and the role of market forces in shaping the healthcare landscape. They discuss the consolidation of healthcare providers, the influence of insurance companies, and the challenges faced by independent practices. The conversation also touches on the COVID-19 pandemic, the response of public health officials, and the lessons learned from the crisis. Co-Hosts Du...

1 week ago

57 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Side Table: The 340B Dilemma: Who Really Benefits?

Send us a text 📌 Why Listen Explore the complexities of the 340B program, its impact on healthcare systems, and the implications for both hospitals and independent clinicians. Understand the need for transparency and potential reforms to align the program with its original goals. 👥 Co-Hosts Anthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neurosurgeon, UCSF; health policy researcherAnish Koka, MD – Cardiologist, Philadelphia; healthcare policy commentator📌 Episode Overview In this episode, the hosts delve into ...

2 weeks ago

29 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

When Politics Masquerades as Healthcare: A Deep Dive into Schumer’s Claims

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen When Senator Chuck Schumer joined Dr. Mike’s podcast to discuss “The Truth About the Government Shutdown,” the talk quickly became a lesson in political spin. In this episode, the co-hosts of The Rojas Report dissect Schumer’s claims, challenge Dr. Mike’s deference, and unpack the policy mechanics behind Medicaid, ACA subsidies, and America’s trillion-dollar healthcare debate. Expect blunt analysis, sharp data, and unapologetic truth-telling about what’s really dri...

2 weeks ago

1 hour 1 minute

The Doctor's Lounge

Admit Defeat: How Hospitals Stripped Doctors of Control

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen This episode is a no-holds-barred takedown of how hospitals manipulate billing codes, exploit DRG loopholes, and increase patient risk—all while squeezing out independent physicians. Whether you’re a patient, policymaker, or healthcare insider, you’ll walk away questioning everything you thought you knew about how hospitals operate behind the scenes. 👥 Co-Hosts Dutch Rojas – Founder, Bliksem HealthAnthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neurosurgeon, UCSF; health policy res...

3 weeks ago

56 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

The Government Shutdown: When Healthcare Policy Becomes Hostage Negotiation

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen In this fiery and insightful episode, the doctors dissect the political and economic fault lines behind the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the looming government shutdown, and the multi-billion-dollar subsidies keeping America’s healthcare afloat. From insurance distortions and Medicaid loopholes to why the system rewards bureaucracy over care, this is an unfiltered conversation that finally makes sense of why “affordable” healthcare isn’t affordable at all. 👥 Co-Hos...

1 month ago

1 hour 16 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

The ACA Bubble: How Insurance Giants Hijacked American Healthcare

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen This episode of The Doctor’s Lounge cuts straight into one of the most polarizing questions in U.S. healthcare: Did the Affordable Care Act (ACA) fix the system—or hand it to corporate interests? The doctors debate how government mandates, corporate lobbying, and political theater have created a bloated insurance economy that benefits everyone but patients and doctors. 👥 Co-Hosts Dutch Rojas – Founder, Bliksem HealthAnthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neurosurgeon, UCSF; ...

1 month ago

1 hour 3 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Private Equity in Medicine: Profit, Patients, and the Fight for Independent Practice

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen What happens when private equity buys hospitals? Do staffing cuts and profit motives compromise patient safety? This episode of The Doctor’s Lounge dives into the controversial world of private equity in healthcare, the role of RVUs and the RUC, and why physicians are losing control over their profession. Expect an unfiltered discussion on power, profit, and the future of independent practice. 👥 Co-Hosts Dutch Rojas – Founder, Bliksem HealthAnthony DiGiorgio, DO,...

1 month ago

1 hour 13 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Side Table: Who Really Decides What Doctors Get Paid? Inside the RUC

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen Ever wonder who actually decides how much doctors earn for surgeries, visits, or procedures? This episode takes you inside the mysterious but powerful Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) — the body that determines physician payments for Medicare and beyond. If you care about fairness in healthcare, innovation, or why a complex surgery can pay the same as a routine one, this conversation is for you. 👥 Co-Hosts Dutch Rojas – Founder, Bliksem HealthAnthony D...

1 month ago

26 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Side Table: Monkeypox, Public Health Messaging, and the CDC’s Trust Problem

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen Journalist Ben Ryan joins the panel to unpack what really happened during the 2022 monkeypox outbreak, how public health messaging shaped public perception, and why institutions like the CDC are facing a crisis of trust. With decades of experience covering HIV and infectious disease, Ryan shares his perspective on risk communication, stigma, and the politics that shaped pandemic response. 👥 Host Anish Koka, MD – Cardiologist, Philadelphia; healthcare policy comment...

1 month ago

22 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Who’s Steering the $50B? Doctors, Dollars & the Media Machine

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen A spicy, inside-baseball roundtable on why rural healthcare dollars keep missing physicians, how enterprise EHRs and retail chains distort priorities, and why media narratives around leaders’ health go off the rails. Practical, provocative, and very quotable. 👥 Co-Hosts Dutch Rojas – Founder, Bliksem Health Anthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neurosurgeon, UCSF; health policy researcher Anish Koka, MD – Cardiologist, Philadelphia; healthcare policy commentator Dan Choi,...

1 month ago

1 hour 8 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Patients, Politics, and the FDA: Who Decides What’s Enough Evidence?

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen Dive into one of the most consequential debates in medicine: how should the FDA balance speed, safety, and patient need in approving new drugs and gene therapies? Dr. Bob Goldberg, joins the Doctors Lounge to unpack regulatory science, RCTs, accelerated approvals, and the controversies around muscular dystrophy treatments. 👥 Co-Hosts Dutch Rojas – Founder, Bliksem Health Anthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neurosurgeon, UCSF; health policy researcher Anish Koka, MD – Ca...

1 month ago

1 hour 11 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Futile Care, Dignity at the End of Life, and Physician-Owned Hospitals

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen When an 88-year-old with dementia lands in the hospital, should we implant a device simply “because we can”? The panel examines futile care, ICU economics, malpractice fears, and the cultural bias to always “do something.” With special guest JP Kolcun, a seventh-year neurosurgery resident, they also debate whether physician-owned hospitals could restore dignity, efficiency, and leadership to American medicine. 👥 Co-Hosts Dutch Rojas – Founder, Bliksem HealthAntho...

2 months ago

52 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Side Table: Declaring Death — Cutting Through the Noise on Organ Donation

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen Organ donation is one of the most emotional and misunderstood processes in modern medicine. In this minisode, the hosts tackle the ethics, procedures, and misconceptions around declaring death and procuring organs. Whether you’re a healthcare professional, patient advocate, or simply someone who has “organ donor” on your driver’s license, this conversation offers rare clarity and compassion on a deeply human subject. 👥 Co-Hosts Anthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neur...

2 months ago

15 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Licensing Loopholes, Wage Pressures, and the Fight for Physician Standards

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen North Carolina approved a bill letting some international medical grads practice without U.S. residency. Smart fix for shortages—or a back door for cheaper labor that risks quality? We break down patient impact, wages, malpractice, and what it means for the profession. Plus: Vinay Prasad’s surprise return to the FDA, catastrophic insurance, and why prices stay opaque. 👥 Co-Hosts Dutch Rojas – Founder, Bliksem HealthAnthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neurosurgeon, UCS...

2 months ago

1 hour 8 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Physician Shortage, Visas, and Why Doctors Are Leaving Medicine

Send us a text 🎯 Why Listen Is there really a physician shortage—or just bad incentives driving doctors out of practice? In this episode, the crew unpacks Representative Greg Murphy’s call for more foreign-trained doctors, the real barriers U.S. medical students face, the role of residency caps, gender dynamics in the physician workforce, and why private practice may hold the key to keeping doctors in medicine. 👥 Co-Hosts Dutch Rojas – Founder, Bliksem HealthAnthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neuro...

2 months ago

1 hour 2 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Hope vs. Power: Gene Therapy, FDA Shake-Up, and Truth in Medicine

Send us a text Original Substack Release: Aug 23, 2025 🎯 Why Listen When hope collides with billion-dollar incentives, who protects patients? We unpack Vinay Prasad’s FDA resignation, Sarepta’s $3.2M Duchenne gene therapy, and how accelerated approvals can leave families without the long-term data they deserve. 👥 Co-Hosts Dutch Rojas – Founder, Bliksem HealthAnthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neurosurgeon, UCSF; health policy researcherAnish Koka, MD – Cardiologist, Philadelphia; healthcare polic...

2 months ago

1 hour 5 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

Enforcement, Arbitration, and the Fight to Keep Independent Medicine Alive

Send us a text Original Substack Release Date: August 29, 2025 🎯 Why Listen Heard “surprise billing” blamed on doctors? This episode shows how insurers shaped the narrative, how the No Surprises Act (NSA) was meant to protect patients, why weak enforcement broke it, and what Rep. Greg Murphy’s No Surprises Enforcement Act could fix. 👥 Co-Hosts Dutch Rojas – Founder, Bliksem HealthAnthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neurosurgeon, UCSF; health policy researcherAnish Koka, MD – Cardiolog...

2 months ago

1 hour 4 minutes

The Doctor's Lounge

38% of Doctors Gone in 5 Years? Inside the Battle for Independence

Send us a text Original Substack Release Date: August 9, 2025 🎯 Why Listen This episode pulls no punches on the future of physician independence. From the looming physician shortage to the retaliatory tactics of insurers, you’ll hear an unscripted conversation about the raw realities inside American healthcare—and the strategies physicians can use to fight back. 👥 Co-Hosts Dutch Rojas – Founder, Bliksem HealthAnthony DiGiorgio, DO, MHA – Neurosurgeon, UCSF; health policy researcherAnish Kok...

2 months ago

1 hour 1 minute