The Doctor's Lounge
Where scalpels meet systems — and physicians say what they really think.
Co-hosted by Dutch Rojas & Anthony DiGiorgio, DO, with Anish Koka, MD, Dan Choi, MD, & Sanat Dixit, MD — candid talks on healthcare policy, reform, physician autonomy & patient care.
Episodes
26 episodes
The Hidden Costs of Coverage: Why Subsidies Can’t Fix Healthcare
📌 Episode Overview:In this episode, the co-hosts dive into the complexities of healthcare policy, discussing the impact of ACA subsidies, the role of insurance companies, and the potential for HSAs to empower patients. They explor...
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Season 1
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Episode 26
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1:04:52
The Healthcare Fallacy: How Big Systems Broke the Market
Show Link: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-153-8-201010190-00274Why Listen 👥In this episode, the hosts delve into the complexi...
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Season 1
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Episode 25
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1:02:40
Behind the Bill: What’s Really Driving Healthcare Costs
Why Listen 👥In this episode, the hosts delve into the complexities of healthcare costs, the impact of policy decisions, and the role of market forces in shaping the healthcare landscape. They discuss the consolidation of healthcar...
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Season 1
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Episode 24
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57:48
Side Table: The 340B Dilemma: Who Really Benefits?
📌 Why ListenExplore the complexities of the 340B program, its impact on healthcare systems, and the implications for both hospitals and independent clinicians. Understand the need for transparency and potential reforms to align the p...
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Season 1
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Episode 23
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29:56
When Politics Masquerades as Healthcare: A Deep Dive into Schumer’s Claims
🎯 Why ListenWhen Senator Chuck Schumer joined Dr. Mike’s podcast to discuss “The Truth About the Government Shutdown,” the talk quickly became a lesson in political spin. In this episode, the co-hosts of The Rojas Report ...
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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1:01:38
Admit Defeat: How Hospitals Stripped Doctors of Control
🎯 Why ListenThis episode is a no-holds-barred takedown of how hospitals manipulate billing codes, exploit DRG loopholes, and increase patient risk—all while squeezing out independent physicians. Whether you’re a patient, policymak...
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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56:25
The Government Shutdown: When Healthcare Policy Becomes Hostage Negotiation
🎯 Why ListenIn this fiery and insightful episode, the doctors dissect the political and economic fault lines behind the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the looming government shutdown, and the multi-billion-dollar subsidies keeping Ame...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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1:16:45
The ACA Bubble: How Insurance Giants Hijacked American Healthcare
🎯 Why ListenThis episode of The Doctor’s Lounge cuts straight into one of the most polarizing questions in U.S. healthcare: Did the Affordable Care Act (ACA) fix the system—or hand it to corporate interests? The ...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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1:03:19
Private Equity in Medicine: Profit, Patients, and the Fight for Independent Practice
🎯 Why ListenWhat happens when private equity buys hospitals? Do staffing cuts and profit motives compromise patient safety? This episode of The Doctor’s Lounge dives into the controversial world of private equity in healt...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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1:13:58
Side Table: Who Really Decides What Doctors Get Paid? Inside the RUC
🎯 Why ListenEver wonder who actually decides how much doctors earn for surgeries, visits, or procedures? This episode takes you inside the mysterious but powerful Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) — the body that ...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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26:09
Side Table: Monkeypox, Public Health Messaging, and the CDC’s Trust Problem
🎯 Why ListenJournalist Ben Ryan joins the panel to unpack what really happened during the 2022 monkeypox outbreak, how public health messaging shaped public perception, and why institutions like the CDC are facing a crisis of trus...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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22:55
Who’s Steering the $50B? Doctors, Dollars & the Media Machine
🎯 Why ListenA spicy, inside-baseball roundtable on why rural healthcare dollars keep missing physicians, how enterprise EHRs and retail chains distort priorities, and why media narratives around leaders’ health go off the rails. P...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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1:08:55
Patients, Politics, and the FDA: Who Decides What’s Enough Evidence?
🎯 Why ListenDive into one of the most consequential debates in medicine: how should the FDA balance speed, safety, and patient need in approving new drugs and gene therapies? Dr. Bob Goldberg, joins the Doctors Lounge to unpack re...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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1:11:35
Futile Care, Dignity at the End of Life, and Physician-Owned Hospitals
🎯 Why ListenWhen an 88-year-old with dementia lands in the hospital, should we implant a device simply “because we can”? The panel examines futile care, ICU economics, malpractice fears, and the cultural bias to always “do somethi...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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52:34
Side Table: Declaring Death — Cutting Through the Noise on Organ Donation
🎯 Why ListenOrgan donation is one of the most emotional and misunderstood processes in modern medicine. In this minisode, the hosts tackle the ethics, procedures, and misconceptions around declaring death and procuring ...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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15:24
Licensing Loopholes, Wage Pressures, and the Fight for Physician Standards
🎯 Why ListenNorth Carolina approved a bill letting some international medical grads practice without U.S. residency. Smart fix for shortages—or a back door for cheaper labor that risks quality? We break down patient imp...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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1:08:46
Physician Shortage, Visas, and Why Doctors Are Leaving Medicine
🎯 Why ListenIs there really a physician shortage—or just bad incentives driving doctors out of practice? In this episode, the crew unpacks Representative Greg Murphy’s call for more foreign-trained doctors, the real barriers U.S. ...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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1:02:19
Hope vs. Power: Gene Therapy, FDA Shake-Up, and Truth in Medicine
Original Substack Release: Aug 23, 2025🎯 Why ListenWhen hope collides with billion-dollar incentives, who protects patients? W...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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1:05:38
Enforcement, Arbitration, and the Fight to Keep Independent Medicine Alive
Original Substack Release Date: August 29, 2025🎯 Why ListenHeard “surprise billing” blamed on doc...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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1:04:24
38% of Doctors Gone in 5 Years? Inside the Battle for Independence
Original Substack Release Date: August 9, 2025🎯 Why ListenThis episode pulls no punches on the future of physician independence. From th...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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1:01:13
Prior Auth: The AI Arms Race, Medicare’s Cliff, and the Boomer Trade-Off
Original Substack Release Date: July 20,2025🎯 Why ListenPrior authorization is the bureaucratic chokehold stra...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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58:46
ACIP Bloodbath, AMA Meltdown: Who Really Speaks for Doctors
Original Substack Release Date: Jun 18th, 2025🎯 Why ListenThis week’s episode takes you ins...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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50:20
Is Healthcare a Right or a Rigged System?
Original Substack Release Date: June 14th, 2025🎯 Why ListenWhen the New England Journal of Medicine c...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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52:21