>> abernethy: cominup, does expense health care mean better health care? not aays. >> we know that morcan be injurious to people, andore health care svices, more aggressively providing tho services, can result in wer lels of care. >> abernethy: and, in l angeles, thirish priest who came to be accepted by bot blacks and latin, in the troubled neighborhood watts. >>ne time, i was talking to the black ds and this little rl said to me, "father pete you aren't white, you'rerish." captioning sponsored by the lilly endment

>> abernethywelcome, i'm bob ernethy. it's good to have yowith us. president obama continued pushing hisealth care agenda this week, caing on congress to move forward wh a reform packag much of the discussn centers on rising alth care costsand a special report on thais coming u obama calls health care refm a mal issue, and many in the religious communy have been lobbying for new meares. but their effts are complicated new debates over whether tax-funded aboron coverage should included.

the u.s. catholic bishs warned congress not to make aboion partf health care reform. the religious coalitionor reproductive choice sai includg abortion coverage is a matter of justie. obama has longrged finding common grod in the overall battle abt abortion, d this we, a broad coalition of activists and clgy said they have found some. advocates and oppents of aboion rights announced their joint support for a newill deigned to reduce the number o u.s.bortions. the bill includes seral measures thelp prevent unintendedregnancies and pride support for pregnant women. >> perhaps the most imrtant is hat it helps us all move forward on the issubeyond the question of legality andoward actuallreducing the need for abortion inhis nation. >> abernethy: amonghose supportinthe bill are the pro- choice group plned parenthood and floridevangelical leader

joel hunterwho is anti- abortion. >> ilinks together traditional adversaries in a w that advances each of our goals withoucompromising any of our values. >> abernethy:n new jersey and brookn, after a huge federal corption investigation, five rabbis were amg 44 public officials and otherarrested. the rabbis were aeged to have launded several million dollars tough charities associated with their synogues. on capitol hill this week, confirmation hearings fo ama's nominee to be the nex ambasdor to the vatican. miguel diaz tches at the college of sainbenedict and saint john's universitin minnesota. during his aring, diaz said he belves interfaith alogue builds bridges tt lead to actio >> i have wked with religious leaders to engage lol communities in exploring th

role of relion in uniting people. ifonfirmed, my service to the uned states as ambassador would be a natural extensionf this work. >> abnethy: president obama hosted leaders of the churchf jesus christ olatter-day saints at the white hse. urch president thomas monson and other mormon leaders ga the esident five-volumes of genealogical recos about his mily history. senateajority leader harry reid, who is so a mormon, arranged the meeting. imams and rabbis from en ropean countries visited th united states as pt of an effort to combatslamophobia and an-semitism in their part of thworld. thgroup met with american muslim anjewish leaders to learnow interfaith efforts work in the u.s. washington, they toured the locaust museum and discussed the dangers of inlerance. they also h a private meeting at the white house.

fewer muslims may make the annual jj or pilgrimage to mecca is fall. bause of concerns about swine flu, arab heah officials have asked children, the elrly, and those who are chronicay sick to stay away. the virus has alreadkilled an egyian woman who died after returning from a pilgrimage mecca. roughly the million ople trek to the holy cities omecca and medina every year. worldwi, deaths from the h1n1 vius have doubled in the past three weeks to morehan 700. >> abernethy: the president and congress westle with health re reform, their debate has cenred on how to provide health insurance for eveone, and w to pay for that. t the president and many others also say the increang costs of careust come down. we've got to change how th heth care delivery system

wos so that doctors are paid for theuality of care, not the quantity of care. >> abeethy: in our special report today, luckseverson examin why health care costs are so hh in one city, miami, florida. >> happy birthday. >> thankou. >> do you know how olyou are? >> yeah >> howld are you? >> i don't kno >> you a 90 years old. >> reporter: n long ago, dr. joel strom and h wife jane were so convinced that jans father waslose to death, not withstanng the attention he was receiving from 10 specialists, they put him i a hospice, and then he gobetter. >> pa of it was he had one rs who took care of him. they cut out a the referrals because they didn't expect m to live ng and they cut out all thmedicines. >> repoer: dr. strom is a cardiologist and a professoat the university ofouth florida mical school. likevery doctor we spoke with, strom is fed up with the alth

care system. >>it's not a broken system, there is no syste medal care is haphazard. medical cares disorganized. there are pockets osuperb care. there arpockets of mediocre care. >>eporter: if medicare costs are anyeasure, miami dade county should have the est senior care in the country. the feral health program spends over $16,000 aear per patient. that's about double e 2006 natiol average. ban keeley is the c.e.o. of bapti health south florida, the largest non-pfit health care systemn that part of the state. he says huge medicare cos do not tnslate to better health care. >> we know that re can be injurious toeople, and more health care services, more aggressively priding those rvices can result in lower levels of care. >> reporter: he sayshere are several facts that bloat health care cos in the miami

ar. > there's a huge imbalance between the number specialists andrimary care physicians and we have su a high percentage of scialists dowover here, they utilize resourc more and technology more. >> reporter: dr. strom, a specialist himselfsays one reason there is ch a shortage of primary care physians, is that medicare doesn'reimburse them enough for patit visits. >> if you spend lot of time with a patient, you will arve to death as a physician because you will only get paid for a certainmount of time. in fact a lot of phicians will actually steer patients ttheir officeso have tests performed because they collectoth the professional compont, and if they ownhe equipment, the technical component. >> reporter:r. gloria weinberg is a geriatrician and cir of the departme of medicine at mt. sinai spital in miami beach. she ys when young doctors-- fresh out of medical scho and buened with school loans--

scover how much less a prima phycian earns, they choose a specialty where they can ma more moy. >> if you look ateimbursement, you are going to co away after you pay expenses, if youre lucky, with $40r $50 an hour. that's not going to lp the youngsters to into a field of mecine and pay off loans and everything else that needsto be done. >> reporter: re in miami, a typical senior cizen will see a doctor 106 times ring the last two years of theilives. not justne doctor, several, specialistsho will then prescribe a batte of expensive tests, ocedures, m.r.i.s, ultrasounds, cat sns and an astonishing assortment drugs. it's becae that's the kinof care patients arnd here often demand. dr. weinberg. >> patients arvery sophisticed. they come in a say "i have a heache." you take a headache histy. they are not satisfied.

if u say you don't need a scan. they want a scan. if you are shed and you are suspicious enough and peaps you suggest a c., which is less expensive than am.r.i., me of them will come to you and say, i want an m.i., i he it's more sensitive. we have had paents in our center tell us, "if you don'do wh i'm asking, i'm going to sue you." >> reporter:he threat of lawsuits forcesany doctors to practice defensiveedicine, ordering more tests an procedures to prott themselves from being sued. health care professionalsere cited malpracticsuits as another factor bind spiraling costs. and dicare fraud in south lorida, particularly in the home alth care industry, has een described as rampant. >> e miami herald reported about a month ago th the f.b.i. a c.m.s.-- centers for medicare and medica services-- indicatedhat fraud was about $2.5 billion p year in miami de county. tt in and of itself is a huge huge fference comparing our cost structure to the resof

the country. >> reporter: about million amerans are uninsure and that includes 30% of the population around miami. many of that nber are undocumented nd in the u.s. ilgally. whatever their status,ost who need care end up in hospital emergency room wre, by law, they cannot be refused treatment. >>t's our ethical responsibility to treatthat patient as we wod any other. that patient could go dowthe path of having a cardio catheterization, uimately haing a pacemaker, a defibriator at $30,000 ongoing medical care. then we face thproblem when we discharge the patients, ere does the pient get the follow up care and t hospital doesn't get reimbursed f it. reporter: perhaps the bigge chunk of mecare expenditures, something like0%, goes to end- of-le care for aging american profess anita cava directs the university of miami busiess ethics ogram.

she says amecans need to rethink the way we look atnd of fe medical care. >> i think we inhe u.s. need to consideour relationship with end of li and to realize it's a natul process. anthat perhaps ending life in a mo humane way and comfortable y at home with family, ratherhan trying to prolong it for anotheray or week or month, is perhaps e best w to go. >> reporter: joe gasperovic would take exception tohe ethical argument for withhding pensive medical treatment fo aging, failing aricans. he was born 1919, and would prefer to prolong his fe as long asossible. if they say we ne a $1,000 cat scando you... there is a( point, an age u reach where you should say no,i've lived 90 years? >> no, i want more. >> reporter: you want more years?

>> everyby, nobody wants to die. >reporter: dr. weinberg says theecisions about the ethics of diributive justice for society as a whole e often much more difficulwhen the doctor is meetinwith a patient on-on-one. >> the healthare dollars, an inordinate aunt, go to taking care of people in their la six months of life. but how do yoknow when those last sixonths are? you have a person o has worked all their lif done well, paying taxes annow they are 80 and th have a heart attack. that y be the person who lives 10 or 15 moryears. are we gointo say no just cause of age? tht's a very, very slippe slope. >> reporter: there is a hu ethical discussion about w should make these e of life desions: the patient, th faly, doctors, the governme. ian keeley says some decisis are eaer to make. for instance, medicarshould only reimburse for eatments d drugs that are known to work. >> it ought tbe evidence

based. if something is prov not to work, i don't think theederal governmentught to be paying for it. i don't think anybody ouht to be paying for it, except f the private patnt. >> reporter: dr. weinberg sa too many paents receive expsive treatments and surgery in their final yrs, that very likely on't prolong their life. > so if you have an alzheim patient who your own beef may be, it's me to let this person gnaturally, and the family is telling you, "i'm a surgate and i'm insting that a feeding tube beut in." you can not make the decisi not to put thfeeding tube on your own, even though you tnk it's futile ca, at least in the ste of florida. >> reporter: dr. weinbergays her 95-year-old moer has a ving will that stipulates s will not be kept ali on a ventilor. brian kley says preparing for end of life is not someing that culturally accepted in uth florida. >other parts of the country where people plan for end life care with these of hospices a palliative care, and what have yo down here, there's lesssage

for that, so peoe go to die in he hospitals. >>eporter: everyone seems to agree that health re reform is urgely needed and that health care should be a rht and not a privege and that it should extend to everyone. they also agree that sth floridis a good place to start. for "religion ethics newswely," i'm lucky severson in miami. >> abernethy: despithis recent medical problem, popeenedict the sixteen is still making public aparances. the -year-old benedict led prayers and greetedell-wishers after he underwent surge to set a brokewrist. e pope injured himself in a fall while on vacation. benedict so offered special greetis to cyclists in the tour de france, which psed near the alpine village ere he staying. we have a stortoday about a remkable man in california.

he is a catholic prit from irela who has ministered for 37 ars to both african americans and latinos in e watts section of s angeles. saul gonzales reports reporter: the los angeles neighborhood of watts halong been synonymous th inner-city speration and despair. it's,fter all, the neighborhood that explod in urban unresin 1965, and then againuring l.a.'s 1992 riots toda watts is still home to so of the meanest streets in e city, but they're streets walked regulay by father peter banks, a cathoc priest who, dreed in his robes, rope belt, d straw hat, looks like a fsh very much out of water. born d raised in rural irelandbanks arrived as a young priest in tts in 1973, assigned to the saintawrence of brindisi church.

>> my picture oamerica before i came, of los angel, was hollywood, disneyland anbeach. so i got io the car and we drove upentury and crossed vermont ani began to realize th is a very different world, it was all black. a the very first sunday, i stood up on thaltar and said "what am i doing hre? how ll i ever understand the people? will they undstand me?" in my weakness, i find strength. >> reporter: ithe decades since, though, th irish priest and the people of wts have come to know each her very ll. and father banks s become a beved figure, both in his church and the wider commuty. > that will look great on television, u giving me a big kiss. anotr one. okay. >> we're standing here in e heart of wts. >> repter: father banks says his taking an acve role in the day-to-day life of theommunity has been key to being accepd

by the peoe of watts. how importa is it for you to do what we are doing now, get out, to walk the strts? >> oh, i feel part of e flesh and blood d soul of watts. >> my brother, brother. >> reporter: as he walkshrough the community, banks eets, and nisters, to the casualties drugs, poverty anviolence in watts. one of them goeby the name "redma." >> now, he never minds saying this, buthis man was shot 13 tim and survived. >> i love this man,e is the only whitean that can walk watts th no gun, just walking by faith. and walk herand know everybody, erybody knows father peter. he is a true father of wts, a al servant of god. redmann and a friend then a fathebanks to lead them in impromptu streecorner prayer. when god dwells withinothing t good can come out. >> reporter: ntral to the story of watts and fath banks church is the incdible demograic shift which has

occurred in ts community in recent decades. once synonymous wh the african amrican community, watts is increasingly latino. with that change has com tensn. >> they ca it the black and brown conflt. how do we get bck and brown to me together? >> reporter: at conflict sometimes expresseitself in violence, but often its faces a ft, unofficial form of segregatio latinos largely stick to themselvesafrican- americans with afican-americans as well. >> you wouldn'go out of your way to hang ouwith hispanic kid >> personall no, i really woul't because i know that might sound racis en i see a mexican girl or a tino girl, i'm not hanging o with her because she's ju not my people. know that's wrong but that just the way iis in our ciety and our community. >> ♪ the power of the ld. >> report: it's such feelings tht father banks has tried to batle in watts, making both

african americans and tinos feel welcome in his congregaon and breaking down walls o mutual suspion and hostility. >> ( speaking spash ) >> reporter: he done that by learning spanish, sloy integrating some crch services, andeveloping sensitivy to the problems of both latin and african americans. >> love the cap. it's irish cap. do yohave an irish cap? >> porter: father banks says being irish c actually be an advantage in h work in watts. >> i feel it is. ne time i was talking the black kids when i came fst, d they were saying somethin about thwhites, and i held up my arms and saidlook at me." and this little girl sd to me, "father per, you aren't white, you're irish!" i can rete very much to the black ithe sense of the irish being persecuted. iused to say in the states o black and irisheed apply." so i do identify a lot wh the african amecan people and theipain and their suffering.

i'm able to relateo the latinos a say i'm an immigrant. nd as i tell the latinos, i an immigrant, to i came here. i'm far away from my n land. i know at you go through. >> reporter members of father banks' congregation say ey appreate his efforts to build bridges of understanding tween african americs and latinos. >> translated ): he hps all the people, african americas, tinos, the entire community to us, father ter doesn't recognize borders. hs a person who helps everybody, and that's y we're here. >> if p.r public relationship, communication was a gift fm god, poof, hgot it 10 times because he can g out there and talk tdifferent people. and thejust feel his love. and he will ll them tcome re and they feel the love. is just a relationship that blossoms. >> report: as he's gotten olde banks says he's incrsingly focused his energy the education and safety o watts' yngest at the

elemeary and middle school operated by his church. >> is this the best school the wholworld? yeah! >> they know more aboupain than i do in my lifeti. and they are only six, seven eightnine years old. youaw them this morning, dying for fection. >> if i don't feeoptimistic and feel tired i came over to the school. i get energy from the schoo energy from these children. hope is to be able toing in the middle of the darknes and i think at's what hope is for me. i can still ng in the middle of the daress. >> reporr: however, after serving the spiritual and material needof this community for ch of his adult fe, father peter bankwill soon departatts. he's beeasked to take a job as a chch recruiter in a rural areof california. although he says heeels duty- bod to fill the position, banks acknledges he feels conicted about leaving this community. >> that's emotional issue for me. it's going be a big struggle to lee here.

i'm at peace with god. that all i can say. i am at peace with go i feel its god's will that i continue his wor we need iests for the church and brothers. >> repter: but it hurts? >> oh, it hurts dply. i have puto much of my life in here. i have invested so mucin childn. it is thbiggest change of my life. feel like i am leavingome twice. i left ireland 37 years agond i feel like i am aving home aga. but i've co to terms with it. and i know that am doing it fo a higher cause, a higher power. >> ♪ happy bihday to you. >> reporter: the peoe whose liv father banks has touched in watts hope his exampleill inspire others to continueis work of cultivating peacend understanding in community that so needs them.

for "religion and ethics newsweekly," i'saul gonzalez los angeles. >> abeethy: on our calendar: je mark the solemn holiday of tia b'av at sundown on wednesday. it's a day ofament for the destruction ofhe first and cond temples in jerusalem. the western wall, judsm's holiest site, is all that remains of t second temple. believers have long lt handwritten prars between the ones. but w there's a more high tech idea. a new website lows people to sd their prayers through t online social networktwitter." the meages will be printed and ken to the wall. the ne of the website is "tweet your prayers. inally, as the country celebrated e moon landing, 40 years ago, this image of the earth seen from the moonemains one of the

space program's most werful messages a reminder of how fragile nd isolated our planet is. and other imas of space are at least equally humbling and autiful. they're from the hubblepace lescope, orbiting the earth above the atmosphere. ♪ the hubbltelescope also helped in the dcovery of so-called dark matter-- the % of everything in the univse that science can not t describe or explain. that's our ogram for now. i'bob abernethy. there's much more on oureb site.

audiand video podcasts are also available. join us pbs.org. as leave you, more images from the hubble telesce. ♪ captioning sponsored by the lilly endowme captioned b media accesgroup at wgbh access.wgbh.org