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The Confused Policies of Medicare's Drug Plan

Fresh Air | By Terry Gross

Published January 31, 2006 at 7:04 PM EST

The new Medicare prescription drug plan is complex, confusing, and irrational, according to health policy expert Jonathan Oberlander.

A month after the rollout of the new Medicare Prescription drug plan, many seniors are finding it difficult to get the drugs they need.

Oberlander teaches about the politics of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A co-editor of The Social Medicine Reader, Volume III: Health Policy, Markets and Medicine (2005), he also wrote The Political Life of Medicare (2003).

Terry Gross

Combine an intelligent interviewer with a roster of guests that, according to the Chicago Tribune, would be prized by any talk-show host, and you're bound to get an interesting conversation. Fresh Air interviews, though, are in a category by themselves, distinguished by the unique approach of host and executive producer Terry Gross. "A remarkable blend of empathy and warmth, genuine curiosity and sharp intelligence," says the San Francisco Chronicle.

See stories by Terry Gross