We Can Do This!

The 340B Drug Pricing Program– a federal initiative designed to provide medications to lower income patients at reduced prices–is being manipulated by large health care entities in order to reap tens of billions of dollars in profits with little to no oversight and transparency. As a result, the intended beneficiaries- low-income patients- are being forced to pay full price for medications they cannot afford. National Consumers League CEO Sally Greenberg speaks with Amy Hinojosa, President and CEO of Mana, a National Latina Organization, and Dr. Ge Bai, an expert on health care accounting, finance, and policy at Johns Hopkins University, regarding a shocking lack of transparency for a program that has more than doubled in cost reaching more than $120 Billion in 2022.

Today we are tackling a global issue affecting millions of young girls: Child marriage. Every year, thousands of girls are married off before they turn 18, often without their consent. Globally, one in five girls was married or in an informal union before the age of 18. Child marriage and forced marriage are happening all too often in the United States as well, at alarming rates. Over 300,000 minors were married in the United States between 2000 and 2018, 37 states currently allow children to marry and some have no minimum age for child marriage. On this episode, we are going to be talking to three remarkable women who have survived child marriage and are now leading the fight against it as advocates with Unchained At Last, a national organization and movement dedicated to ending forced and child marriage in the United States. The mission of Unchained at Last is crucial to human rights and women's rights as marriage before 18 often involves coercion, unplanned pregnancies, and stripping minors of the legal rights they need to leave an unwanted marriage.

On this health series episode of NCL’s “We Can Do this” podcast, Director of Health Policy, Robin Strongin, sits with Sarah Ikenberry, Senior Communication Advisor for the Office of Therapeutic Biologics and Biosimilars at US Food and Drug Administration, and Julie Reed, Executive Director of the Biosimilars Forum. In this podcast, Robin, Sarah and Julie discuss what biosimilars are, what they mean for patients and how biosimilars can be a cost-saving alternative for patients. For more information on biosimilars, visit https://scriptyourfuture.org/biosimilars/.

This episode of NCL’s “We Can Do This!” health podcast is focused on alternatives to opioids for pain control. America is in the middle of an opioid crisis, and that crisis extends to young adults who are dealing with pain from wisdom teeth removal, sports-related injuries and more. Experts share information on how all consumers can speak to their health providers about nonaddictive pain relief options. Experts also weigh in on the enduring stigma around addiction and substance use disorder. NCL CEO, Sally Greenberg is joined by the Honorable Mary Bono, former Congresswoman and co-founder and CEO of Mothers Against Prescription Drug Abuse (MAPDA); Charlene Ng, Vice President of US Medical Affairs at Bayer; and Matt Robinson, co-host of Till the Wheels Fall Off podcast and the voice of “The Painful Truth” campaign.

In our latest installment of We Can Do This! Sally Greenberg, CEO of National Consumers League, sits down with Rebecca Ballard to discuss the fashion and garment industry. Sally and Rebecca, an experienced and leading authority on sustainable fashion and founder of the consulting firm Ballard Advisory, discuss the incredible linkage connecting the garment industry’s history with the work of NCL specifically with respect to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in the early 1900s, women’s and workers’ rights movements in the U.S., and child labor exploitation. Rebecca, a former Labor and Employment Attorney with the U.S. Department of Commerce and owner of the sustainable fashion line Maven Women, recently penned a guest blog for NCL titled “The FABRIC Act will address garment industry workplace concerns.”

NCL is excited to present the inaugural podcast episode of our new Health Podcast Series under the “We Can Do This!” podcast umbrella, hosted by our Senior Director of Health Policy Robin Strongin. This month we are celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month with our esteemed guest Amy Hinojosa, National President & CEO of MANA. The episode kicks off with the mention of two impactful and “feisty” woman leaders that helped start NCL in 1899. Fast forward to today, two women with similar characteristics are featured on this podcast. Robin and Amy discuss health disparities in the Hispanic community, the great work that MANA does to empower Latinas and what we can all do to work towards equity in the health world.

Happy Consumer Protection Week! While fraud can affect anyone, regardless of age and other demographic information, Fraud.org and NCL are putting the spotlight on scams targeting older Americans. Our host for this episode is NCL’s very own fraud expert, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud John Breyault. John sits down with Lizette Alvarez of the Washington Post and Debra Berlyn of Project GOAL to discuss fraud prevention strategies for seniors and their families. You will hear real life examples of some shocking scams and different ways to fight fraud either for yourself or a loved one. Let’s ALL make a point to speak up about fraud. In this episode there were some resources referenced and those links can be found below: Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/02/08/elderly-scams-protections-targets-finances/http://www.fraud.orghttps://www.bbb.org/all/bbbi/impersonation-scamshttps://consumer.ftc.gov/features/pass-it-onhttps://theprojectgoal.org/

On this episode of “We Can Do This!” our host Sally Greenberg sits down with members of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, the country’s leading public health education and advocacy organization taking on Big Tobacco to save Black lives. Dr. Phil Gardiner, Carol McGruder and Charles Debnam break down the FDA’s proposed move to ban menthol cigarettes, how Big Tobacco has aggressively targeted African American communities and eliminating the number one culprit of preventable deaths for Black people in America. The airing of this episode is timely with the news of Juul e-cigarettes being banned last week and ahead of the August deadline for FDA public comments on their proposed new rules that ban the manufacture and sale of menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars. Visit savingblacklives.org for more information on these important issues.

Many of us take for granted that our medicines are available at the pharmacy whenever needed. Despite the disruptions of the pandemic, U.S. healthcare supply chains remained incredibly resilient, safe and reliable. Dr. Nicolette Louissaint of the Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) joins NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg for a dialogue about medical supply chains, health equity and access, patient consumer issues, and even predictions on the next pandemic. Dr. Louissant also speaks about her personal journey of becoming one of the leading experts in supply chains and the biomedical field.

Happy Consumer Protection Week! Are you an online shopper? This podcast is for you! On this episode of We Can Do This!, NCL’s Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud, John Breyault, sits down with Alyssa Betz, Director of Public Policy leading Amazon’s Brand Protection and Customer Trust policy team, to discuss protecting consumers, specifically in the online marketplace. John and Alyssa dive into topics such as fake reviews, counterfeit products along with scams that have been on the rise this year. *Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*

This episode contains sensitive topics, such as abortion and sexual violence, that may be difficult for some audiences. Listener discretion advised. As listeners of our podcast know, the National Consumers League believes in equal health care access for all, and that includes a woman's right to choose. With the looming possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned and the strict abortion laws that have been enacted in Texas and Mississippi, we sat down with pioneering champion of women’s rights — Karen Mulhauser — to discuss her personal story, contraceptive rights, and the upcoming elections.

Healthcare continues to be front and center in the national discourse, particularly in the midst of the pandemic. As Congress works on policy solutions to lower healthcare costs for consumers, we face an unfair disadvantage when it comes to what we’re paying at the pharmacy counter. Many consumers don’t know that this is largely due to middlemen companies called pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Antonio Ciaccia, President of 3Axis Advisors and Chief Executive Officer of 46brooklyn Research, joins NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg to talk about the role PBMs play in our drug pricing system and how they impact what consumers pay out-of-pocket for their medicines. *Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly accelerated the growth of e-commerce. And counterfeiters are raking in the cash. Dr. Jay Kennedy, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University and Assistant Director of Research at the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection, joins NCL’s VP of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud John Breyault to talk about the dangers of counterfeit products and how these products flourish on digital marketplaces. *Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*

Beth Porter, Climate Campaigns Director at Green America, join NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg to talk about the American arm of the global recycling movement and the confusing myriad of systems consumers must navigate to lead sustainable, eco-conscious lives. *Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*

It's 2021, can we speak frankly about women's sexual health yet? Dr. Crista Johnson-Agbakwu (MD) of Arizona University’s Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center and Dr. Sheryl Kingsberg (Ph.D.) of UH MacDonald Women's Hospital & Case Western Reserve University join NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg for a straight talk, non-apologetic conversation about women sexual health, societal shyness on the topic, and harmful traditions in immigrant communities. *Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*

Michelle Singletary award-winning Washington Post columnist joins NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg and Lisa Hertzberg, director of the LifeSmarts program, to discuss how consumers can manage debt and finances even amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic and the predatory business practices that keep so many Americans in cycles of poverty. But first, Lisa Hertzberg quizzes David Han, a University of Georgia freshman and LifeSmarts program alumni on personal finance. *Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*

Ben Wiseman, director of the Office of Consumer Protection at the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, joins NCL’s VP of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud John Breyault to talk about the surge of consumer protection issues that have emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the crucial role that state attorneys general play in protecting consumers from predatory businesses and scammers. *Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*

Fraidy Reiss, activist and founder/director of Unchained At Last, joins Reid Maki, NCL’s director of child labor issues and coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition for a dialogue about the silent scourge of child marriage in America and the continued effort to support women who wish to leave coerced and forced marriages. *Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*

Dr. Joia Adele Crear-Perry of the National Birth Equity Collaborative and Dr. Kelle H. Moley of March of Dimes joins NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg for a dialogue about premature births, maternal outcomes, and the societal stressors that disproportionately affect some pregnant women more than others. *Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*

Norma Flores López, Governance and Development/Collaboration Manager at East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, joins Reid Maki, NCL’s director of child labor issues and coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition for a dialogue about the plight of workers on America’s farms. Joining them are two young women that have worked in fields as child laborers, Araceli and Jazmin.