PROFILE
FROM Herbert Rappaport
Medicare Costs and Your Doctor Bills Last year, Dow Jones persuaded a court to lift an injunction against the release of Medicare data, an injunction first granted to the American Medical Association in 1979. Last week, as a result, there was a massive " data dump " that's being called a watershed moment in establishing greater transparency. That data data shows that some doctors get millions of taxpayer dollars more than others for similar treatments. A few were already under indictment for fraud, but others have explanations. We talk about that with the president of the American Medical Association. The AMA helps set prices for Medicare, which then become standard for all procedures. Does the system encourage doctors to enrich themselves? What have the data revealed about pharmaceutical companies? Can they inflate prices under the cover of law?
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Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.