The killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO has sparked a lot of conversations about political violence and also about health insurance in the U.S. and the many frustrations people have with their coverage.

Today on The Metro, we discuss the state of health insurance and health care in metro Detroit and beyond with three guests; and look at how things like medical debt affect a person’s quality of life. 

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Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal is the senior contributing editor for health news analysis at the Kaiser Family Foundation. She’s also the author of “An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back.”

She says health care has placed too much of an emphasis on profits.

“We are talking about not a health care system, as we used to do, but a health care industry,” Rosenthal said. “It’s not a system, right? It’s a bunch of big businesses and poor patients are left struggling in this land of the giants to just get the care they need.”

While medical innovation ranks well in this country, things like insurance coverage, quality, and cost are all pretty bad compared to other First World nations. 

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, director for the Wayne County Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services, says his department is working with the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt to relieve residents from medical debt. 

“We realized that there was an opportunity for us to step in and take on the scourge of medical debt for our county,” El-Sayed said. “We identified the fact that we ranked No. 8 for medical debt in the entire country, and that this was an opportunity for us to be able to wipe clean $700 million in debt.” 

Oakland County launched a similar program last year in partnership with RIP Medical Debt.

David Kendall, a senior fellow for Health and Fiscal Policy at Third Way — a think tank that champions modern center-left ideas — also joined The Metro to share his ideas on how to improve health care in America. 

He discussed how some states are giving tax exemptions to hospitals extending care to people below a certain poverty level. 

“The thing about it is that Michigan hasn’t done this yet, so about half the states have,” Kendall said. “So if you’re out there thinking about what to do on this issue, that would be a good first thing to contact your state legislator and say, ‘Can we get the hospitals to, you know, provide a certain minimum level of charity care?”

In the second hour of The Metro, we asked listeners:

“Have you ever avoided seeing a doctor or not gotten a prescription because of the cost of health care? Have you ever struggled with medical debt?”

Adam in Detroit said: “My company is located out of Utah, and they don’t cover anything. They don’t cover anything that I actually need. Like, what I will need is Adderall basically, right? But what they cover is the generic version. And right now there’s a shortage of amphetamines in the United States, which is really crazy. So like, I’ll go to the pharmacy after getting this doctor’s visit that was really hard to schedule, and then I’ll go from the doctor’s visit to the pharmacy, and they’ll be like, ‘Oh we don’t even have that.’”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More from The Metro on Dec 17, 2024: 

• Detroit Youth Choir is ready to strut its stuff and branch out a little bit this holiday season. If you’re not familiar with the young performers, they have lit up stages from “America’s Got Talent” to Carnegie Hall. This Friday, DYC will perform two concerts for audiences. The first half of the concert will include soulful renditions of classic Christmas songs. To discuss the concerts, as well DYC’s new album released this fall, Detroit Youth Choir Director Anthony White joined the show.
• The Michigan Poison & Drug Information Center has seen more and more calls about nitrous use and how it’s making people sick — prompting a new state law banning the sale of nitrous oxide paraphernalia. Varun Vohra, a professor at Wayne State University and senior director of the Michigan Poison & Drug Information Center, joined The Metro to discuss the growing problem.
• Stellantis is going through some changes. The automaker that includes the Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands among others is going into 2025 without its CEO, Carlos Tavares, who has led the company since its formation in 2021 until abruptly resigning on Dec. 1. Automotive News Executive Director and host of the Daily Drive podcast Jamie Butters joined the show to help us understand what’s next for the company.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

We’re seeing a change in Michigan when it comes to wages. After a six-year battle that involved lawsuits, protests, and an intervention by the state Supreme Court, Michigan will start to raise its minimum wage.

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The goal is to increase the standard to $15 an hour by 2030. But the process — like many things involving politics — was and continues to be contentious. Last week, state House Republicans walked out of their session in protest — seeking a vote on the minimum wage law before it goes into effect next year. 

Critics of the new law argue this change could affect what tipped workers take home and be tough on businesses. They fear customers will tip less and workers could make less money overall. 

Detroit News Restaurant Critic and Reporter Melody Baetens joined The Metro on Monday to help us understand the potential changes coming to worker wages. While minimum wages will change, she thinks the custom of tipping will not shift. 

“The tipping industry in this country is a wild, vast conversation. And I am not sure about this gloom and doom situation where people are going to stop tipping if wages go up,” Baetens said. 

President and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association Justin Winslow also joined the conversation, saying there are some common misconceptions when it comes to servers’ wages. 

“What I think is often misunderstood, and it takes a while to educate on this, no one’s ever making a sub minimum wage,” Winslow said. “If in the event that tips aren’t making up at least that difference, to get you to whatever the full minimum wage is, you as the employer are responsible to make up that difference every time.”

We also talked to Godwin Ihentuge, chef and owner of  Yum Village in Detroit. His servers make between $12 and $15.50 an hour, depending on training, and tips on top of that.

“Everyone still gets tips. It’s still there. We just find that, and I think as this becomes more public, businesses are going to find that the consumer will support the ethical behavior,” Ihentuge said. “They’ll come, they’ll make their way to the businesses that are deciding to do the right things in an industry that is rooted in and need of desperate change.”

Lu Hayoz, a longtime server and owner of the Peppermill Cafe in Grand Rapids, said a change to minimum wage could be detrimental to her business.  

“We make well above minimum wage. I mean, granted, we make $3.90 an hour, but most of our girls $20, $25 an hour. And we have talked to our customers every single day about what is going to be happening,” Hayoz said. “I am a very small restaurant. You know, just like I said, we’re just a diner open from six to two every day. Everything, our margins are 3-5%, they’re so small. And food cost is sky high right now, sky high.”

In the second hour of The Metro, we asked listeners:

“Do you work in the restaurant industry? Are you worried that as your hourly wage goes up, your tips will go down?” 

Louis from Southfield said: “If I go to a restaurant where I’m a regular and have a relationship with knowing my waitress. She treats me good. She takes care of me. I don’t care what the raises she’s going to get is. I tip her 30% because I’m tipping the person. I’m tipping the friendliness.” 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More from The Metro on Dec. 16, 2024:

• Kelley Cusmano has been an educator for 19 years, and is currently an English teacher at Rochester High School. She was also named Michigan’s 2024 Teacher of the Year this past summer. In that role, she’s been traveling to different public schools and trying to increase the state’s teacher retention rate. She’s now about halfway done in her role, and Cusmano joined the show to discuss what she’s learned, why teacher retention is an issue, and what makes a great teacher.
• Typewriters were once as ubiquitous as the computer. Now, they’re mainly found on shelves in antique shops and in various states of repair. WDET’s Jack Filbrandt sat down with Chris Alan Jones and Jessica Letkemann, the team behind Detroit Type Works repairing and bringing new life to these beautiful machines. 
• Water is the most basic necessity of life. The rising cost of water has some Michigan families struggling to pay their water bills. In certain households, that results in water shutoffs. A slate of bills in the state  House would address this problem, one that advocates say is a human rights issue at its core. One organization that’s been central to this work is the People’s Water Board Coalition. The Detroit-based group advocates for people’s equitable access to safe water and sanitation. PWBC Director Sylvia Ordunõ joined the show to discuss their efforts.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Many people in the queer community are on edge after Donald Trump’s reelection in November.

The Trevor Project, a leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people, reported a 700% increase in calls after the 2024 election.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Trump has uttered no shortage of transphobic rhetoric, leaving many concerned that he’ll roll back federal protections for transgender people.

Detroiter Valerie Jean Blakely, who has a 16-year-old transgender son, shares those same concerns. She joined The Metro on Thursday to discuss her feelings of anxiety and fear for her family with Trump back in the White House.

After the presidential election, Blakely said she and her family sat in a bedroom for two days, unpacking their anxieties and discussing what Trump’s reelection could mean for their family, and for transgender rights more broadly. 

Blakely shared her fears that Trump’s election has emboldened transphobic people to openly come after the LGBTQ community.

“Trump supporters immediately came for trans people, like, immediately,” she said. “It was so stark to me, it does not feel like it’s getting better. It felt like it was a little easier when he was six, to be fair, because it didn’t seem… the hate and the bigotry didn’t seem so, you know, violent.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro on Dec. 12, 2024: 

• The city of Detroit is the 10th U.S. city to get a designated Michelin Green Guide highlighting its cultural attractions, Visit Detroit announced this week. Claude Molinari, president and CEO of Visit Detroit, joined the show to discuss the designation.
• The Ruth Ellis Center is well known within the LBGTQ+ community, often being a lifeline for our most unprotected LGBTQ brothers and sisters. Ruth Ellis herself was one of the oldest and proudest Black lesbians of her time. Mykell Price, director of talent, equity and inclusion for the Ruth Ellis Center, joined the show to discuss what it’s like to be a trans person in Detroit today, and what resources are available.
• In partnership with the State of Michigan and Detroit at Work, The Michigan Central Talent Innovation Training Fund was created to support start-ups. More than $1.5 million will go towards skill building, growing and diversifying Detroit’s business community.
• Democrats have had control of the state House, Senate, and Governor’s office since the 2022 midterms. The “trifecta” government meant the state legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer could pursue and advance a policy agenda without Republican support. But that’s changing come January, when Michigan House Democrats will lose their majority.  To discuss this, Michigan Public Radio Network reporter Colin Jackson joined the show.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

The ​incoming ​Trump ​administration ​wants ​a ​return ​to ​traditional ​family ​values, ​and ​a ​lot ​of ​people ​who ​voted ​for ​him ​do ​too. What ​does ​that ​mean ​for ​women ​and ​the ​many ​roles ​that ​we ​take ​on ​in ​society? ​And ​are ​we ​taking ​on ​too ​much?

Dr. Phillip Hammack is a professor at University of California, Santa Cruz, and is an expert on gender and sexual identity diversity. He joined The Metro on Friday to discuss how gender roles have shifted in the past decade.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Dr. Hammack said that labels popularized on social media like “girlboss” (a woman who’s particularly career-driven) and “trad wife” (a woman who follows more traditional gender roles in her marriage) show the expansion of society’s perception of womanhood to more than one specific stereotype.

“I think what’s exciting about these kinds of titles is it’s showing that ideas around how to be a woman, how to inhabit your gender, have now opened up, and there are options,” he said. “Those kinds of micro labels say, ‘You can inhabit your womanhood in different ways, and that’s okay.’”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro on Dec. 13, 2024: 

• Women now represent half of the labor force, and woman CEOs now run about 10 percent of Fortune 500 companies. But there are still a lot of challenges for women navigating the workplace. Professor Aparna Joshi of UM’s Ross School of Business joined the show to discuss.
• Despite Detroit’s high levels of poverty, roughly 20 percent of the city’s public housing units were empty in September. As of October, Arthur Jemison became the Detroit Housing Commission’s new executive director. He joined the show to discuss his own experience with public housing, and how he plans to turn the Commission around.
• With candidates like City Council President Mary Sheffield and potentially former Councilwoman Saunteel Jenkins, Detroit could elect its first woman mayor next year. Eboni Taylor is the Vice President of programs for Higher Heights America, a political action committee that works to get more Black woman candidates elected to federal, state and local offices across the country. She joined the show to discuss what could be ahead for the city.

The city of Detroit is already donned in holiday drip following the tree lighting last month. This Saturday, holiday cheer will cascade throughout Midtown as the city’s cultural district celebrates its 50th annual Noel Night. 

Produced by the nonprofit Midtown Detroit, Inc., more than 100 participating businesses and vendors will offer Noel Night activities and entertainment including live music performances, holiday shopping with special deals, arts and crafts, Christmas carols and more.

WDET — celebrating its 75th anniversary this year — is a media partner for Noel Night and will be offering tours of the station, opportunities to meet hosts, warm refreshments and more from 3 to 10 p.m. Several Wayne State University schools, colleges and divisions will be hosting Noel Night activities across campus as well. 

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Maureen Stapleton, interim director of Midtown Detroit Inc., joined The Metro on Monday along with Source Booksellers owner Janet Jones to talk about what participating businesses and organizations have in store for the event’s 50th year.

Stapleton noted that Midtown Detroit is the perfect place to showcase the city’s diverse holiday traditions and culture.

“What makes me most proud is the cultural diversity of the activities of the day,” she said. “We have cultural institutions that are some of the finest in the country that are on display.”

Stapleton also pointed out that, despite being called Noel Night, many activities will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday morning. For a full schedule of events and activities, visit midtowndetroitinc.org/schedule.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More from The Metro on Dec. 2, 2024:

• With Thanksgiving now in the rearview, the holiday season is in full force. Over the weekend at Eastern Market, crowds of shoppers were loading their bags with gifts and filling their pickup trucks with Christmas trees. But Christmas is far from the only religious and spiritual holiday celebrated in the month of December. Aaron Gale, an associate professor and scholar of religious studies at West Virginia University, joined the show to discuss the vastly different ways people of different faiths celebrate the season. 
• For many, food is more than something to excite your taste buds; it’s a container for culinary traditions, helping continue the heritage of the people who created it. In the new documentary, “Detroit: The City of Chefs,” chef, producer and award-winning director Keith Famie highlights what makes Detroit’s food scene so rich and what food can do to continue old rituals and inspire new stories. Famie joined The Metro to discuss the film.
• The holidays are a time where we hear a lot about gratitude, joy and spending time with family. But it can also be a stressful or sad time for many people, emphasizing lost loved ones or estranged relationships. To discuss the importance of mental health awareness during the holiday season, clinical psychologist Dr. Cindy Morgan joined the show. Natasha T Miller, a Michigan poet and former co-host of the Science of Grief podcast from WDET and the MSU Museum, also joined the show.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

A local nonprofit is working to transform a former school property in Corktown into a community hub that will house an early childhood education program, host artist residencies and more.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Co-founded by Paul Spiegelman and Hamsa Daher, Kintsugi Village aims to offer a “unique blend” of educational opportunities for Detroit families, from arts and culinary experiences and a community garden to events and programming promoting wellness and personal growth.

The initiative will be located in the former St. Vincent Middle School in Corktown, with plans to open the early childhood center by September 2025. 

Spiegelman and Daher joined The Metro on Wednesday to discuss the project and what inspired it. 

“After going through a really tough personal time about a year and a half ago, we sat around at the DIA one day and talked about maybe doing something new, and Hamsa was ready to take on a new challenge as well,” Spiegelman said. “We thought maybe there’s a way we could help in Detroit and help in a local neighborhood, bring the community together. And that’s where the inspiration started to pull all these initiatives together.”

The pair will hold a community meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 2 at McShane’s in Corktown to discuss their plans for the community hub and share additional details about the early education program and tuition costs. 

For more information about Kintsugi Village, visit kintsugivillage.org.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation with Spiegelman and Daher.

More stories from The Metro on Nov. 27, 2024:

• State Rep. Dylan Wegela and Downtown Detroit Partnership CEO Eric Larson joined the show to discuss GM and Bedrock’s redevelopment plan for the Renaissance Center and its $1.6 billion price tag.
• Filmmaker Tom Brown was diagnosed with HIV when he was just 18 years old. His 2016 feature film “Pushing Dead” — a dark comedy about an HIV-positive struggling writer — is inspired by his own personal journey coping with the disease for decades. Brown, who recently moved to Detroit, joined The Metro to talk about a screening of the film he’s organizing for World AIDS Day at the Senate Theater this Sunday.
• The way we string our sentences together with the metaphors or similes that we use to enrich a conversation can often change an individual or move a nation for better or for worse. Detroit’s poet laureate, jessica Care moore, joined the show to talk about reaching people where they are in the community or with their personal growth.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t have many concrete plans for what he wants to do when he gets into office. His policy list is thin, but there are two things he’s talked about a lot: deportations and tariffs. 

Trump has said he plans to deport millions of people in the U.S. who don’t have legal status. Yesterday, he said he would use the military to carry out this plan. He also wants to use tariffs to develop industry here.

But how will these policy changes affect neighboring countries like Canada and Mexico? Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens joined The Metro on Tuesday to talk about the potential impact in Canada.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Dilkens says Canada has long been impacted by U.S. immigration policy at the Mexico-U.S. border.

“The millions of people who have crossed [the U.S.-Mexico border] in the last four years, many of them have made their way up to Canada, crossed illegally into the country,” he said. “And so in my city today, I’ve got two hotels who overlook the Detroit River and stare at Detroit, full of people who have crossed into our country, waiting for their cases to be adjudicated by our immigration and refugee group in Canada.”

In 2004, the U.S. and Canada entered into a Safe Third Country Agreement, a treaty between the two governments with the goal of better managing the flow of refugees better manage the flow of refugees seeking asylum at the border.

As part of the agreement, individuals seeking asylum in Canada are required to request refugee protection in the first safe country they arrive in, unless they qualify for an exception, Dilkens said.

“If you’re entering Canada to claim refugee status from the United States, you’re now required to wait in the United States to have your case adjudicated,” he said. “We’re no longer going to put you up in hotels and have you hang out here.”

Use the media player above to listen to the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro Nov. 19, 2024: 

• What is today known as the Knights of Columbus Hall in Clawson, used to be a raucous concert venue called The Hideout from 1966 to 1969. It was the third location in a series of teen clubs in southeast Michigan, where legendary musicians like The MC5, many of Bob Seger’s early groups, and The Subterraneans once played. Martin Hirchak, a Detroit cartoonist and graphic designer, joined the show to talk about the former venue, and an upcoming event at Knights of Columbus, “Tales from the Clawson Comic Book and Toy Show.”
• Educators at the College of Creative Studies (CCS) have made it their mission to stoke the flame of creativity already inside the students they teach. Fiber Flux, a new exhibition on view through Dec. 14 at the Valade Family Gallery on CSS’ campus, pays homage to arts educators across the Midwest through fiber art. Wayne State Associate Professor of Fashion and Fibers Heather Macali and Professor and Section Lead of Fiber and Textiles at CCS, Jeremy Noonan, joined the show to discuss the exhibition.
• Last week, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced he won’t run for another term. WDET’s Senior News Editor Quinn Kleinfelter joined the show to discuss the mayor’s legacy and what the future might hold for both the city of Detroit and Duggan’s political future.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Editor’s note: This conversation discusses some disturbing subject matter, including torture.

A U.S. jury last week awarded $42 million to three former detainees of Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, holding a Virginia-based military contractor responsible for contributing to their torture and mistreatment two decades ago.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

The decision from the eight-person jury came after a different jury earlier this year couldn’t agree on whether Reston, Virginia-based CACI should be held liable for the work of its civilian interrogators who worked alongside the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004.

The jury awarded plaintiffs Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili and Asa’ad Al-Zubae $3 million each in compensatory damages and $11 million each in punitive damages.

The three testified that they were subjected to beatings, sexual abuse, forced nudity and other cruel treatment at the prison.

Al-Ejaili joined The Metro on Monday along with Troy attorney Shereef Akeel — who represented the plaintiffs in the case — and local interpreter and attorney Mohammed Alomari, to discuss the case.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

-Reporting by Matthew Barakat, Associated Press

More headlines from The Metro on Nov. 18, 2024: 

• The Kresge Foundation’s Artist Fellowships program has been supporting metro Detroit artists since 2008. Starting in 2025, the Foundation will increase the fellowship awards to $50,000 per artist. Katie McGowan, deputy director for Kresge Arts in Detroit, joined The Metro to talk more about the fellowship program.
• A lot of people are struggling to purchase homes right now. A limited supply of affordable housing options is a part of that problem, propelled by labor shortages, supply shortages and regulatory issues at the city level that make it harder to build. Houm, an architectural design firm in Detroit, is working to change that by building cheaper, more efficent homes. Co-founder Breck Crandell joined the show to talk more about Houm’s efforts to build more affordable homes.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Michigan’s firearm deer hunting season officially opened on Friday, meaning thousands of enthusiasts from around the state and beyond are preparing to take part in the popular tradition — including our executive producer David Leins, who is in northern Michigan doing just that!

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For some, hunting is more than just a hobby. It’s a way of life — a way to feed their families. Others simply hunt deer for sport. But there are many Michiganders who’ve had little to no exposure to hunting, and one local organization is working to make it more diverse.

Antonio Cosme is a co-founder of “Black to the Land Coalition,” a nonprofit working to build back the connections between people of color and the natural world. Cosme joined The Metro along with avid hunter Andrea Di Cresce, who serves as global kids program coordinator for Black to the Land.

The Coalition offers hunting safety courses and they’ll be hosting a “hunters of color” network gathering next week, Cosme said.

“We just want to create a network, create some support opportunities,” Cosme said. “We’re really interested in helping urban hunters get access to private land. That’s something that we are particularly interested in because that is gonna be your best opportunity to hunt deer.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More headlines from The Metro on Nov. 15, 2024:

• Since Michigan legalized recreational marijuana five years ago, weed edibles have been getting into smaller and smaller hands. From 2020 to 2022, the Michigan Poison and Drug Information Center recorded a 75% increase statewide in unintentional youth cannabis ingestion. Detroit City Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway joined the show to discuss an effort to keep weed advertisements out of sight from kids.
• The Detroit Documenters play a crucial role in improving our access to public information. They’re at all the city’s public meetings, taking notes on what leaders and community members are saying. Public comment dominates these meetings, often stretching for an hour or two. The board could soon make changes to their public comment process that some worry could have a chilling effect on free speech. Detroit Documenters Coordinator Lynelle Herdon joined the show to discuss these potential changes. 
• Macomb is a swing county. That’s been true in previous elections and on Tuesday, Nov. 5, it was proven to be true as a lot of people came out to vote for President-elect Donald Trump. In Michigan, many of those voters were in Macomb County, with 20,000 more residents there voting for him this time compared to 2020. Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel joined The Metro to share his thoughts.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.