Episode 10 | Overpriced and Overprescribed: Healthcare Costs in the Age of Big Money

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Unrig the System

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The United States has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and faces an unprecedented opioid epidemic. But how did we get here? For starters, the healthcare industry spent $337 million lobbying politicians in 2018 alone. This episode discusses the impact of this outsized influence everywhere—from cancer drugs that cost $400,000 a year to the 115 people a day who die needlessly from opioid overdoses.  Money in politics rigs the healthcare system, but these panelists discuss solutions that could bring down prices and save lives. • Moderator: Wendell Potter, Founder & President, Tarbell.org; Author, Nation on the Take • Speaker 1: Richard Master, CEO, MCS Industries; Founder, Business Initiative for Health Policy • Speaker 2: Juliana Keeping, Communications Director, Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, drug pricing activist, mom to Eli, 6, who lives with cystic fibrosis • Speaker 3: Dr. Jessie Fields, National Spokesperson, Open Primaries • Speaker 4: Emily Walden, Coalition Executive Chairperson, FED UP!