On episode 244, we welcome Troyen Brennan to discuss the pitfalls of the US healthcare system, the fee-for-service model’s implications for patient outcomes, primary care as a more viable alternative, Walmart’s failed attempt to establish primary care clinics, Optum’s contrasting success, how to incentivize primary care, AI streamlining prior authorizations, increasing government funding and venture capital for primary care, how preventative care keeps patients from falling through the cracks, and why medical professionals tend to dislike the business side of medicine.

Troyen A. Brennan is an adjunct professor of health policy and management at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. A former professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the former chief medical officer at CVS Health, he is the author of The Transformation of American Health Insurance: On the Path to Medicare for All and Just Doctoring: Medical Ethics in the Liberal State. His new book, available October 7, 2025, is called Wonderful and Broken: The Complex Reality of Primary Care in the United States.

| Troyen A. Brennan |

► Website | https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Troyen-A-Brennan-38805570

► Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/troyen-brennan-494bb533

► Wonderful and Broken Book | https://amzn.to/3KBnjQD

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Troyen A. Brennan - America’s Healthcare Is Broken — Can Primary Care Save It? | STM Podcast #244