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Clark has been telling you about the corruption going on in student loan programs at colleges these days. Well, there is a new even more unbelievable chapter in this scandal. Not only are these lenders convincing financial aid employees to push their products by giving them kickbacks and buyoffs. Now, when people call the college financial aid offices, callers are actually rerouted to the lender’s office. The banking salespeople answering the phone introduce themselves as college employees. It has happened at Texas Tech University, where the skuzzy lenders are answering the phones “Texas Tech Financial Center.” In fact, the lenders aren’t allowed to say who they are, even if a caller asks. The head of financial aid at Texas Tech said it would confuse people if the lender employees answered the phone with their true identities. How did financial aid get so corrupt? Just remember that you can’t trust these offices and you need to do the work yourself if you have a son or daughter in college.

Clark is a big fan of the “minute clinics” that are popping up in grocery stores and department stores. They provide quick, efficient service and they cost less than a visit to an actual doctor’s office. There is a shortage of primary care doctors these days, in part because they’ve been crushed financially by insurance companies. In fact, in the beach area where Clark has a vacation home, pediatricians have refused to take on any new patients. More often, doctors are going into specialties because it’s the only way they can make real money. So, we’re headed for a time when the point of contact is going to be a nurse or nurse practitioner. Speaking of, Harris did a survey of the “nurse-in-a-box” clinics, and 90 percent of people are happy with the care. Some people worry about the quality of care from a nurse. But people who’ve actually seen a nurse at one of the clinics are overwhelmingly happy with the care.