Quagga InvasionTop of Mind with Julie Rose • Season 1, Episode 609, Segment 5
Aug 3, 2017 • 17m
(originally aired May 1, 2017) Guest: Mark Belk, PhD, Professor of Biology, Brigham Young University There's still time left in boating season, and here in Utah a popular destination for boaters is the massive reservoir Lake Powell, well over 100 miles long. But boaters there have had to deal an invasive species the last five years: quagga mussels are spoiling the party at Lake Powell, threatening serious damage to the thriving houseboat industry there and possibly wreaking havoc on sport fishing, just like they’ve done in the Great Lakes for the past 30 years. Will the quagga mussels win out again?

Where Did Our Healthcare System Come from Anyway?Aug 3, 201719mGuest: Christy Ford Chapin, Associate Professor of History, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Visiting Scholar, Johns Hopkins University Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act are a shambles, so some in Congress are now searching for a more limited plan to stabilize the individual insurance market, where premiums have risen steeply. Even though the fight over Obamacare is often called a fight over “health care reform,” it’s really more about insurance reform, dictating who should get coverage and what the coverage should look like. But how did health insurance companies end up being the gatekeepers to our medical care in the first place? About 100 years ago, health insurance companies didn’t even exist in America. The story of their rise to prominence helps explain why the battle over health care reform is so intense today.
Guest: Christy Ford Chapin, Associate Professor of History, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Visiting Scholar, Johns Hopkins University Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act are a shambles, so some in Congress are now searching for a more limited plan to stabilize the individual insurance market, where premiums have risen steeply. Even though the fight over Obamacare is often called a fight over “health care reform,” it’s really more about insurance reform, dictating who should get coverage and what the coverage should look like. But how did health insurance companies end up being the gatekeepers to our medical care in the first place? About 100 years ago, health insurance companies didn’t even exist in America. The story of their rise to prominence helps explain why the battle over health care reform is so intense today.