The University of Missouri invited Gerald Friedman, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, to speak to students and local Columbia residents earlier last week. The lecture was hosted by the MU Truman School of Public Affairs as the Monroe-Paine annual lecture event. Friedman’s lecture focused on the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and the future possibility of a single payer healthcare system.
“By in large for people who have health insurance the affordable care act protects them, ensures that their health insurance will be at least as good as what they’ve had already,” he says.
Friedman concentrated on the growing health care costs in our country in comparison to other nations. Although not everyone currently supports the Affordable Care Act, Dr. Ed Weisbart, who attended the lecture, says he believes a single payer system is still a possibility for the U.S.
“If people understand the facts and the logic and the incredible human and economic value I think the nation would immediately rise up and demand that we have this,” he says.
According to Friedman a single payer health care system could save the country $592 Billion dollars every year.
TV’s Bill Nye the science guy spoke at the University of Missouri Columbia last week as a part of the Life Sciences and Society Symposium.
KBIA’s Bridgit Bowden has the story.
With hundreds or thousands of acres to keep track of, checking the health of crops is a challenge for large corn, wheat or soybean farmers in the Midwest. That’s why many are eager to get their hands on remote-controlled planes or helicopters that could help them scan their land.
Tech-savvy farmers have been waiting for years for the government to make up its mind about the commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles. Will 2014 be the year farmers get their hands on drones? Harvest Public Media’s Peter Gray takes a look.
