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Connections

Coming up on Connections: Thursday, January 19th

NPR

First hour: Laying out the questions that are still unanswered as the GOP moves to repeal the Affordable Care Act

Second hour: Understanding SNAP and promoting access to healthy food

Republicans are rapidly preparing to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Donald Trump said this week that it would be replaced with a program that would cover all Americans at a lower cost. Assuming this is impossible, there are significant questions about what the replacement for the ACA will be. Our panel discusses what they know, what they don't, and what they think the big questions are regarding the next iteration of American health care. WXXI health reporter and producer Karen Shakerdge will help lead the discussion, along with our panel:

  • Dr. David Topa, pediatrician at Pittsford Pediatric Associates
  • Andrew Graupman, archaeologist concerned about losing health insurance
  • Dr. Brendan O'Connor, primary care physician at Unity Family Medicine at Chili Center

The New York Times set off a kind of firestorm with a front-page story on food stamps, or SNAP benefits. The story pushed the claim that soft drinks are the number one purchase for households that use SNAP. It turns out that the Times did a rather loose job at interpreting the data, and critics say the article became a vehicle to malign Americans in poverty. So we'll start there: what did the article get right, and what did it get wrong? And then we'll discuss the best ways to promote access to healthy food for everyone. Our guests:

  • Mitch Gruber, chief program officer for Foodlink
  • Mike Bulger, healthy communities coordinator for the Healthi Kids program at Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency  
  • Leverett Copeland, SNAP recipient and healthy living ambassador
Connections
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.