An hour explaining the American health care system, specifically, why it is that costs keep rising. One story looks at the doctors, one at the patients and one at the insurance industry.
This show was a co-production with
NPR News, and was one of two shows we did on health care: the other is
Someone Else's Money. We also have more health care resources
here.
Prologue.Former Bush Administration official David Frum explains a very surprising fact about Bush's economic failure, as it relates to health care. Frum is a regular contributor to the radio show Marketplace. (5 minutes)
Act One. Dartmouth Atlas Shrugged.
Are doctors to blame for the rising costs? NPR Science Correspondent Alix Spiegel reports on the shocking results of studies about varied health care spending. Hear more health care stories this week from Alix at npr.org. (18 minutes)
Act Two. Every CAT Scan has Nine Lives.
Or is the problem the patients? Producer Lisa Pollak reports. (12 1/2 minutes)
Act Three. Who Would Win in a Fight Between a Polar Bear and an Insurance Company?
Or maybe the insurance companies are to blame? Producer Sarah Koenig reports. (12 1/2 minutes )
Act Four. Now What?
Host Ira Glass talks with Susan Dentzer, editor of the journal Health Affairs, about what current health reform proposals do to fix the rising costs of healthcare...And points at a surprising, kind of heartening phenomenon happening within the current debate. (6 minutes)
Song: "Doctor My Eyes," The Jackson Five