Bitter pill: MEDICARE MESS, NOW Friday, July 8, 2005 on PBS

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Thu, 7 Jul 2005 19:58:25 -0400

PBS - NOW Friday, July 8, 2005 on PBS

 

 

 

 

NOW Friday, July 8, 2005 on PBS

(Check local listings at http://www.pbs.org/now/sched.html)

This week on NOW:

 

* Bitter pill. Is the new Medicare law a boon or bust for seniors? Find

out in MEDICARE MESS.

 

* Rethinking Gitmo. Will the London bombings change the way the U.S.

deals with prisoners in the war on terror? NOW asks in THE LOCK DOWN.

 

* River of hope. For kids in one of America's poorest neighborhoods,

cleaning up a river has shown them a way out. NOW reports in TROUBLED

WATERS.

 

MEDICARE MESS

With the U.S. government projecting a $426 billion deficit this year,

critics are blaming some of the red ink on the Medicare prescription

drug benefit, which President Bush signed into law in December 2003. In

2004, when NOW first reported on the story, the original cost of the

bill had ballooned from $400 billion to $534 billion. Where does it

stand today? NOW looks at what the Medicare law is costing America.

 

THE LOCK DOWN

A new wave of bombings across London this week has some asking new

questions about those detained in the war on terror. NOW takes a look

at the latest on the controversy surrounding the government's hard line

on the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Amnesty International has

called the camp " the gulag of our times, " and a growing number of

critics - including some key conservatives -- say the detention of more

than 500 terror suspects there may be doing America more harm than good.

 

 

TROUBLED WATERS

One of America's gleaming symbols of freedom and prosperity, Washington,

DC is also home to one of the most impoverished and polluted

neighborhoods in America. Two years ago, NOW traveled to this

neighborhood along the banks of the Anacostia River to report on a

non-profit group called the Earth Conservation Corps (ECC) that was

transforming the lives of young people while teaching conservation. NOW

returns for a poignant look at where those kids are today.