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In Washington, the story often stops when Congress passes a law. Reporters move on to the next legislative or political battle.
But on Vox’s new podcast The Impact, that is where our stories begin.
The Impact is a show about how policy affects people — policies that work and policies that need some work. We are going to follow those policies after they leave Congress or statehouses. We’ll look at what happens when they wind their way out into the real world where all of us live.
You can listen to our trailer here.
Our first season focuses on health care and the many challenges consumers face in the American health care system. How can a hospital get away with billing $629 for a single Band-Aid? Why is our maternal mortality rate going up when it’s going down in peer countries? And why on earth, in 2017, does the fax machine remain the predominant way to exchange medical records?
On The Impact we’re going to answer these questions — and tell you about the people who have struggled with these challenges firsthand. These aren’t random, inexplicable problems. As you’ll hear, they are the direct result of policy choices that the United States has made over the past century.
We’ll get our answers by crisscrossing the country to see policy in action — visiting hospitals in California, a birth control clinic in Delaware, and a doctor’s office with a very busy fax machine in Washington, DC.
You can subscribe to our new feed on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. You’ll find a trailer there with a preview of the stories we’ll tell this season — and stay tuned for our first episode, coming Monday, October 16.
