Should you worry about the national debt?

Feb 16, 2018
We have short-term focus but a long-term problem.
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney testifies before the Senate Budget Committee Tuesday on the 2019 budget proposal released the day before.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

After taxes, what’s next for the GOP?

Dec 19, 2017
Forget the tax overhaul. That’s old news. Republicans are already looking ahead to their next goal: cutting Medicare, Medicaid and other programs like food stamps. They’re calling it “entitlement reform.” Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

As Republicans get ready to reveal a tax plan, a look at how they might pay for it

Oct 31, 2017
With all the focus on the Republican tax plan due out this week, we take a look at some of the ways they may pay for it: cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. The Republicans’ budget blueprint calls for funding reductions to both programs. What might that mean for low-income people and seniors who depend on […]

So just what is a single-payer system?

Sep 13, 2017
Sarah Kliff of Vox explains Bernie Sander's new universal health care plan, Medicaid for All.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, introduces the Medicare for All legislation, his plan for government-sponsored universal health care, on Capitol Hill today.
JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

Three global ideas that could make U.S. health care better

Jul 7, 2017
If you could have any part of another country's health care system, what would it be?
An ambulance arrives at the Accident and Emergency department of the Bristol Royal Infirmary in Bristol, England.
Matt Cardy / Getty Images

A health plan to encourage seniors to get the care they need

Jun 6, 2017
A House committee is set to hold a hearing on a plan to lower costs for people on Medicare. The bipartisan legislation would let Medicare make some basic services cheaper for patients with chronic conditions. A diabetes patient who’s prone to blindness, for example, would get cheaper eye exams. It’s a model private insurers are […]

5 percent of patients drive 50 percent of health care spending. A new bill aims to change that.

May 16, 2017
Republicans and Democrats don’t quite see eye to eye when it comes to repealing Obamacare. But when the Senate Finance Committee meets today, there’s likely to be common ground on how to improve care for the 3.5 million sickest and most expensive Medicare patients: a new bipartisan bill that targets new treatments for the people […]

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Medicare's free wellness visits sound great, but in practice, there are challenges

May 4, 2017
They're meant to help doctors identify potential problems early on. But what's the outcome?
In wellness visits, physicians gather medical and family history, update lists of the patient's prescriptions and conduct lots of screenings.
Adam Berry/Getty Images

Rural Georgia residents are hit hard by local hospital closure

Apr 7, 2017
'Without health care, people don’t want to stay here. I don't blame them,' a former nurse says.
When Stewart-Webster Hospital closed in 2013, residents say they lost a sense of security along with a health care provider.
Elly Yu

Rural hospital in Georgia faces financial difficulties

Mar 17, 2017
Irwin County Hospital is one of many in the country that are struggling to keep their doors open.
Irwin County Hospital in Ocilla, Georgia, has been struggling to keep its doors open for patients. It recently had to lay off about 20 staff members.
Elly Yu