Dr. Peter Beilenson was an innovative health commissioner for Baltimore and health officer for Howard County over two decades before establishing Evergreen Health, one of 23 non-profit insurers created under the Affordable Care Act. Beilenson left his mark on the city with aggressive responses to AIDS, the crack epidemic and gun violence against youth. In the county, he found a way to provide health care to families that could not afford it. And that was before the ACA.In this episode: Beilenson talks about the problems facing Baltimore, why they persist, and what's needed to significantly reduce violence, drug addiction and poverty in a sustaining way.Before leaving Maryland to take a public health job in his native California, Beilenson talks about the promise, early success and ultimate failure of Evergreen, and his frustration with the Obama administration over the co-op's demise.
view more