Developing a vaccine is one challenge. Delivering it to billions is another entirely. Dr. Seth Berkley, former CEO of Gavi, joins us to unpack his new book Fair Doses, which discusses the hidden systems, politics, and economics behind global immunization.

Gavi’s work has helped deliver over 7 billion vaccine doses and immunize more than 3 billion children, reshaping access across the world’s poorest regions. Dr. Berkley explains why vaccine mistrust has persisted for centuries, and why today’s misinformation environment is uniquely dangerous. He breaks down how Gavi’s alliance model coordinates WHO, UNICEF, and manufacturers to move vaccines across continents. We also go inside COVAX, from vaccine nationalism to the supply-chain barriers that defined COVID-19 distribution. Finally, Dr. Berkley looks ahead to how mRNA, synthetic biology, and AI could transform our response to the pandemics to come.

7 Billion Doses: The Man Who Vaccinated the World | Gavi CEO Dr. Seth Berkley

We're sitting down with Gary Daniels, the former CEO of UnitedHealthcare and now Chief Growth Officer at Thatch, a consumer-centric health benefits startup reshaping how employers fund coverage through ICHRAs and modern infrastructure.

In this episode, Gary breaks down the hidden mechanics of the U.S. insurance system: why employer-sponsored coverage often fails the individual and how different lines of business create massive structural complexity. He walks through the industry’s biggest shifts over the past decade, from the rise of self-funding to ACA dynamics, reimbursement cuts, and the role of vertical integration. We discuss why the real failure point in healthcare is transactional infrastructure, not just policy design, and why ICHRAs unlock consumer choice for the first time. Finally, Gary explains why he left a top role at United to join a startup, and why he believes the future of insurance will be built on transparency, choice, and AI-powered operations.

Betting on Consumer Choice in Healthcare | Former UnitedHealthcare CEO Gary Daniels

Today’s guest is Tylon Wang, co-founder and CEO of Angle Health - an AI-native health plan that raised a $60m Series A with one goal: rebuild health plans from the ground up.

Ty shares how early experiences in engineering and federal government work shaped his problem-solving mindset, and how his time at Palantir exposed the deep fragmentation and misaligned incentives inside large healthcare organizations. We discuss why legacy insurers can’t innovate, how Angle built an AI-native full-stack health plan with a canonical data model, and why alternative funding models are reshaping employer-sponsored coverage. If you want a clear look at the future of payers, data infrastructure, and tech-enabled care, this episode is for you.

Building an AI-Native Health Plan | Angle Health CEO Ty Wang

In this episode, we’re speaking with Dr. Mark Pauly, - a founding figures of modern health economics - about how we can build a better healthcare and insurance system.

From the origins of moral hazard to the political journey of the individual mandate, Dr. Pauly explains how policy choices ripple across the system. He breaks down why healthcare markets defy Econ 101 logic, why costs feel higher even when spending has flattened, and how externalities, from contagion to altruism, justify public involvement. He also reveals why tax subsidies for employer insurance quietly distort the market more than most people realize, and why fixing incentives may matter more than any new program.

Insurance – Why Healthcare Isn't Econ 101 | Wharton Economist Mark Pauly

In this episode, we're speaking with Dr. Maria Polyakova, Professor of Health Policy and Economics at Stanford, about how insurance design influences far more than access to healthcare.  Simply put, what if health insurance isn’t just about paying for care, but it's one of the biggest levers shaping the economy itself?

From Germany’s expansion of long-term care insurance that unexpectedly reduced unemployment, to IVF coverage that reshaped who gets to have children, Dr. Polyakova reveals how health policy acts as both economic stimulus and social design. She also explores why inefficiency, not just ideology, is one of the greatest barriers to reform in the U.S., and why fixing administrative waste might do more for Americans than any new program.

Insurance – Health Insurance as Industrial Policy | Stanford Professor Maria Polyakova

Today's guest is Cedric Kovacs-Johnson, the founder and CEO of Flume Health - a software platform that orchestrates data through a universal translation layer for payers. We discuss the administration problem in healthcare, Flume's product Relay, and why over 80% of enterprise data in healthcare is locked inside disconnected systems.

Cedric shares how his sister’s healthcare journey revealed the true bottleneck in care - the administrative web behind coverage decisions - and how Flume’s platform is helping health plans and vendors speak the same data language. We talk about what happens when innovation meets legacy infrastructure, why trust and simplicity are the keys to unlocking progress, and how startups can bring clarity to one of the world’s most jargon-filled industries. Cedric also reflects on his transition from 3D printing to healthcare and what it takes to turn complex systems into simple, human solutions.

Insurance – The 80% Problem: Data Without Borders | Flume Health CEO Cédric Kovacs-Johnson

In this episode, we sit down with Ashok Subramanian, founder and CEO of Centivo, a company rebuilding employer-based healthcare to make it radically more affordable. Before founding Centivo, Ashok launched Liazon, a benefits marketplace acquired by Willis Towers Watson, and began his career at McKinsey.

Ashok shares how Centivo is tackling the root causes of rising healthcare costs by centering plans around primary care, eliminating deductibles, and aligning incentives between employers, employees, and providers. He explains why the current “one-size-fits-all” model of employer coverage fails a diverse workforce, and how a more personalized, coordinated approach can improve both cost and quality. Finally, Ashok offers a vision for the future of employer-based care: one where affordability, access, and trust define the healthcare experience.

Insurance – Zero Deductibles, Free Primary Care | Centivo CEO Ashok Subramanian

Dr. Katherine Baicker is the Provost of the University of Chicago and one of the most respected voices in health economics. Dr. Baicker explains that we shouldn't just be asking if healthcare is a right. It's time to set a coverage floor based on "how much of a right it is."

As a former member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and Principal Investigator for the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment, Dr. Baicker explores what makes the U.S. healthcare system so complex — and why comparisons to other countries often miss the mark.  She discusses her vision for a “Medicaid-for-All” model that balances universal access with innovation and fiscal sustainability. Finally, we dive into how economics can help us navigate the hard trade-offs between equity, efficiency, and innovation in healthcare’s future.

Insurance – "How Much is Healthcare a Right?" | UChicago Provost Katherine Baicker

Syam Palakurthy is the CEO of SamaCare, a platform simplifying the prior authorization process for healthcare providers, payers, and patients. Last year, his team raised a $17M Series B with the goal of making paying for healthcare as simple as a credit card swipe.

In this episode, we explore how Syam went from Bain & Company and ClearCost Health to tackling one of healthcare’s most hated administrative burdens. He breaks down why prior authorization exists, why it’s so entrenched in our system, and what it would take to increase transparency. We talk about the coordination failures across insurers, providers, and pharma companies - and how AI and automation are finally closing those gaps. Syam also shares how scaling a solution in such a fragmented ecosystem requires both deep empathy for providers and a systems-level understanding of healthcare economics.

Insurance – As Simple as a Credit Card Swipe | SamaCare Co-Founder Syam Palakurthy

Today's guest, Dr. Joseph Newhouse, is a longtime Harvard professor whose research has shaped U.S. health policy for decades. He is best known for leading the RAND Health Insurance Experiment, the largest study ever conducted on health insurance and cost-sharing.

In this episode, we explore the story behind the RAND experiment - how it came to be, the challenges it faced, and what its findings revealed about how patients respond to cost-sharing. Dr. Newhouse explains why more care doesn’t always mean better health, and why outcomes varied so sharply for low-income patients with chronic conditions. We also discuss how RAND’s lessons still influence today’s debates over Medicaid, Medicare, and employer insurance, and where he thinks the study’s findings hold true. Finally, Dr. Newhouse reflects on what he might change if the experiment were run today, including how Medicare and value-based insurance design could be studied in new ways.

Insurance – The Largest Health Policy Study Ever | Harvard Researcher Joseph Newhouse

Discover where healthcare is headed with The Healthcare Theory. Through recurring mini-series, we unpack everything from health policy to life sciences and digital health. Tune in every week for insightful conversations with founders, researchers, and industry experts that are shaping the future of healthcare.

The Healthcare Theory Podcast