retired doctor of internal medicine
Retired after 33 years as a Doctor of Intern Medicine, for the past seven years he's been Volunteer Medical Director at the Arlington Free Clinic
PROFILE
N. Thomas Connally
Guest
FROM N. Thomas Connally
To the Point
Healthcare, Insurance Companies and the Presidential Campaign The cost of healthcare is rising all over the world, but nowhere faster than in the United States, even though more spending does not mean better health. In five years, the cost of health insurance premiums rose 87% in the US, four times faster than the growth in wages. Law enforcement officials in New York and California are investigating claims that insurance companies rig what they pay providers and dump patients after they get sick. But insurance, which is 25% of the cost, isn't the only thing that's driving up costs. Will the broader coverage promised by political candidates lead to better results? Are doctors and their patients helping to drive up costs by demanding more healthcare than they really need?
Recommended
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
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
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
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.