You see the acronym a lot when it comes to signing forms at the doctor’s office, but what is HIPAA? How did its passage start a sea change in our access to healthcare? Co-hosts Erin Stein and Dr. Gillian Goddard explain medical privacy, your right to your records, pre-existing conditions, the ACA, COBRA, and why doctors still fax.

Gillian takes us back to the world before HIPAA, when losing coverage for even a short time could mean your insurer refused to pay for care. We explain how HIPAA narrowed pre-existing condition exclusions, how that connects to COBRA and the Affordable Care Act, and what each law did and didn’t fix.

We also get into the privacy side: your right to a copy of your medical records, why you now see lab results at the same time as your doctor, and why your doctor may not be able to text or email you freely. We uncover the mysteries why doctors fax, what happens when you turn 18, and why hospital staff have been fired for looking up celebrity charts.

We take a moment to remind you that while this is a medical discussion, it is not providing a diagnosis or treatment or any medical advice. The only way to get a diagnosis, treatment or medical advice for your particular condition is through a discussion with your doctor.

Please subscribe savvypatient.substack.com

Visit www.thesavvypatient.com/podcast for episode transcripts.

Watch full podcast episodes @TheSavvyPatient on Youtube.com.

Get your copy of The Hormone Loop by Dr. Gillian Goddard wherever books are sold.

This episode was produced and edited by Erin Stein. Music: “All We Live For (instrumental)” by Wolfclub licensed through Audiio.com. Intro and outro edited, and video created, by Ian Mayer. The Savvy Patient logo by Amanda Spielman.

EXPLICIT. Let’s talk about sex, baby! Co-hosts Erin Stein and Dr. Gillian Goddard welcome Dr. Jenn Kennedy, a board-certified sex therapist, for a frank and funny conversation about desire, intimacy, and what changes in midlife. We’ve got you covered at every age with this fabulous episode.

Jenn explains why sex can feel complicated in midlife from the exhaustion of raising kids and building a career to the changes of perimenopause and beyond as our bodies change. She talks about desire discrepancy between partners, what’s actually “normal,” and why widening the definition of sex can take the pressure off. Gillian shares why vaginal estrogen is worth knowing about at any age, and why lubricants alone often aren’t enough.

Then Jenn walks us through how masturbation and self-knowledge can help you understand your own pleasure. We also get practical with tools that can help, tips to start the conversation with your partner, how to bring up concerns with your doctor, and what to look for if you seek out a sex therapist.

References:

Find out more about Jenn Kennedy, PhD and LMFT, on her Instagram @drjennkennedy; on her website at drjennkennedy.com or pleasureproject.us and listen to her podcast here: pleasureproject.us/podcast

To find a local sex therapist search www.psychologytoday.com for licensed providers.

Some of the products Dr. Kennedy mentioned can be found at www.womanizer.com; www.heytabu.com; and www.estherperel.com.

For the prudish among us, Erin also recommends a book she published, Ready For It by Chusita Fashion Fever. (Yes, really.)

We take a moment to remind you that while this is a medical discussion, it is not providing a diagnosis or treatment or any medical advice. The only way to get a diagnosis, treatment or medical advice for your particular condition is through a discussion with your doctor.

Please subscribe savvypatient.substack.com

Visit www.thesavvypatient.com/podcast for episode transcripts.

Watch full podcast episodes @TheSavvyPatient on Youtube.com.

Get your copy of The Hormone Loop by Dr. Gillian Goddard wherever books are sold.

This episode was produced and edited by Erin Stein. Music: “All We Live For (instrumental)” by Wolfclub licensed through Audiio.com. Intro and outro edited, and video created, by Ian Mayer. The Savvy Patient logo by Amanda Spielman.

It’s almost Election Day! This week, co-hosts Erin Stein and Dr. Gillian Goddard are talking about voting, which might sound like a strange topic for a health podcast, but it affects your health care at every level in ways you haven’t even realized. Rejected insurance claims, cancer treatments and what your kid eats for lunch as school are all impacted by elected positions.

We start at the federal level with things both congress and the president have a hand in. We explore how Medicare affects everyone’s insurance; explain what the FDA, CDC, NIH, and Department of Health and Human Services each do; and why research funding matters. We also break down how Medicare differs from Medicaid, which is funded federally but run by the states. Then we go local: why your governor, state legislature, and insurance commissioner matter, why there isn’t one UnitedHealthcare but fifty, and how your county and town affect health departments and hospitals. Erin also shares a fun and slightly alarming fact about coroners versus medical examiners.

The message is simple: your vote matters.

References:

Go Vote! Visit www.vote411.org to learn about your ballot and check your voter registration.

For more on how medical insurance companies and corporate structure, watch the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver segment about UnitedHealthcare, (note, this content is explicit): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1pXm0GjLho

For more on medical examiners and coroners, watch the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver segment about Death Investigations, (note, this content is explicit): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnoMsftQPY8

We take a moment to remind you that while this is a medical discussion, it is not providing a diagnosis or treatment or any medical advice. The only way to get a diagnosis, treatment or medical advice for your particular condition is through a discussion with your doctor.

Please subscribe savvypatient.substack.com

Visit www.thesavvypatient.com/podcast for episode transcripts.

Watch full podcast episodes @TheSavvyPatient on Youtube.com.

Get your copy of The Hormone Loop by Dr. Gillian Goddard wherever books are sold.

This episode was produced and edited by Erin Stein. Music: “All We Live For (instrumental)” by Wolfclub licensed through Audiio.com. Intro and outro edited, and video created, by Ian Mayer. The Savvy Patient logo by Amanda Spielman.