America's Future Now Radio Row: Interview With Dr. Len Saputo, Author of "A Return To Healing"

TRNS Reporter Joseph Russell interviews progressive Dr. Len Saputo, author of the new book "A Return to Healing." Dr. Saputo claims universal health care is not the answer (1:26).
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Sen. Baucus on health care: “people paying more, and getting less”

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) says at a hearing on rising costs and low quality in health care that the U.S. spends more than two trillion dollars on health care, but that 47 million Americans are uninsured. He says that one out of every six Americans do not have access to health care, except in “overcrowded emergency rooms.” He says that the trends are heading in the wrong direction, that the number of uninsured grows each year, and that the cost of insurance increases faster than both the economy and wages. He also says that the quality of care being provided is “not as high as it should be.” (0:54)


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“About a third of what we spend on health care is not adding clinical value”

Len Nichols, director of the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, says there are two driving factors for the high cost of U.S. health care compared to other countries: one is that employers bear a larger share of the costs for the total health care structure, and the second is that the health care system is inefficient. He says the U.S. spends twice as much on health care as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average, and that about one third of the money spent on health care is not adding clinical value. (0:49)
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