Brookings Institution
Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution; physician and former Obama Administration official who helped craft the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
PROFILE
Kavita Patel
Guest
FROM Kavita Patel
To the Point
Healthcare Spending Is on the Decline, but at What Cost? The good news is that America's historic expansion of healthcare spending has slowed to its lowest rate in 51 years, though that could change fast. The reason for the decline is the recession, which left millions unemployed, uninsured and less able or less willing to pay for doctors, hospitals and drugs. Maybe they're just eliminating unnecessary care. However, if they're foregoing what they really need, they could get sicker and require much more in the future. We ask consumers why they've cut back and ask experts, will spending go up again when the economy improves? This story was informed in part from sources in the Public Insight Network. Find out more at our website, www.kcrw.com/insight .
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To the Point
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?
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.