Episode Information

Understanding Health Care Policy
Where We Live - with John Dankosky
Aired:
10/28/2008
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In this episode:

NPR's Julie Rovner joins us to talk Health Policy

 

Host:
John Dankosky
Guest(s):
Contributor(s):
Catie Talarski
Episode Audio

36:07 minutes (17.34 MB)
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Health care policy is one of the major issues of the Presidential and congressional campaigns, but the language can often be too dense to understand.  This is why NPR Health Policy Correspondent Julie Rovner has updated her guidebook, Healthcare Policy and Politics A to Z. In it, she has explanations for more than 300 key concepts to demystify health care policy - and tricky concepts like Medicare, SCHIP, abstinence education and abortion. She'll also talk about the health care plans presented by the presidential candidates.

 

Join the conversation!  Add your questions, suggestions and comments below. 


 
Related Content:
Links for this Episode:
Julie Rovner on NPR
Health Care Policy A to Z

Cost of Drugs and Cost of Innovation

Submitted by Fred S.C. Li (not verified) on October 28, 2008 - 10:39am.
 
I was surprised to hear the statistic that 52% of healthcare dollars are spent on 5% of the people.
 
I am sure that much of this is with the use of medicine and pharmacological products that are very
expensive.
 
How can we, lower the cost of drugs, still promote competition and innovation and on top of it all,
employ future generations here in the United States?
 
Has it been Julie's experience that single point health care systems use US drugs in their systems?
which other countries purchase for less? and give to their citizens?  
 
How are the cost of drugs addressed in other nations?
 
Are our Pharms just "inventing / patenting / prescribing" these blockbuster drugs to maintain their
profit streams?
 
This is has been a great show.
 
Fred in Riverside, CT