Raising the Profile of Effective Models 

Since 2015, one in five fatal police shootings in the U.S. involved someone in a mental health crisis—a total of more than 2,000 lives lost. This reality has sparked a shift in how cities respond to people in crisis, with more than half of the country’s largest cities now deploying social workers and EMTs, rather than armed police, to 911 calls involving mental illness, addiction, or suicidal thoughts.

The Fifth Branch, Tradeoffs’ three-part series created in partnership with The Marshall Project, highlights Durham, North Carolina’s HEART program, where police, community members, and civil servants are transforming crisis response.

Stakeholders nationwide are using our reporting to inform policy and implement alternatives to traditional crisis responses. In Jacksonville, Florida, the director of the city’s Crisis & 988 program shared how our work is helping educate the Mayor’s office to establish a city-run program. Teachers like Tal Matalon in Durham, North Carolina, even incorporated The Fifth Branch into their classrooms to inspire local students. And in the fall of 2024, we brought members of the HEART team to the National Crisis Continuum Conference, where they shared their experiences directly with other crisis response professionals, helping to shape the national conversation on unarmed crisis intervention.

Connecting Policy to People

Millions of America’s poorest and sickest patients are stuck navigating two government insurance programs to get the care they need. These individuals, known as “duals” or “the dually eligible,” qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. The government spends nearly half a trillion dollars on these patients’ each year, but they still struggle to access essential care.

In March 2024, six U.S. senators announced the bipartisan DUALS Act to address this complicated problem. At a press conference announcing the legislation, Sen. Tom Carper, D-D.E. quoted a scene from a Tradeoffs episode in which Saleema Render-Hornsby shared her experiences as a dually eligible individual navigating the system to underscore the real-life stakes of reforming the system.

Tradeoffs’ reporting illustrated these patients’ experiences, turning complicated policy into compelling human stories. Sen. Carper’s decision to share Saleema’s story at the press conference was a powerful acknowledgment of Tradeoffs’ ability to articulate the human side of policy.

Elevating Solutions

In East Baltimore, a team of nurses piloted a radical plan to offer basic primary care to all—regardless of age, income, or insurance. Their goal: to close gaps in care that leave too many Americans behind.

Tradeoffs’ story on this program resonated nationwide, garnering attention from national outlets like PBS NewsHour. Sarah Szanton, PhD, RN, FAAN, the program’s founder and dean of Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, told us she’s heard from individuals nationwide who want to replicate the model in their communities. The team at Johns Hopkins has also been invited to present their work to the New York State Federal Reserve, helping shape their work on “missing markets” within health and prevention.

“I think to be on Tradeoffs, NPR, PBS, all within a month or two led to a snowball feeling that the success of our model is inevitable… And it really started from Tradeoffs.”
– Sarah Szanton 

By spotlighting this effort, we elevated a successful local solution and inspired others to explore similar approaches to expanding health care access.

Taking Conversations Further

Health policy challenges don’t end when the reporting is over. Decision-makers need support to translate ideas into action.

In 2024, Tradeoffs participated in 12 events across the U.S., bringing together health policy decision-makers to share insights, tackle real-time challenges, and explore evidence-based solutions. We helped policymakers better grasp the complexities facing dually-eligible Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries during a virtual conversation hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center and broke down the risks and opportunities of health care AI for state leaders at NASHP’s annual conference. Our team also partnered with ASHEcon to coach the next generation of health economists, equipping them with the skills to navigate complex health care systems and communicate the stakes and impact of their work more effectively.

By meeting researchers, policymakers, and leaders where they are, we extended Tradeoffs’ ability to foster smarter, more honest health policy conversations nationwide, building bridges between ideas and action.