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March 19, 2012 With the Supreme Court poised to hear arguments about President Obama's health law next week, the time seemed ripe for looking at the economic stakes. The public sector is a big part of the American health care industry, which now accounts for 18 percent of the GDP.

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• One Nation, Two Health Care Extremes

March 19, 2012 When it comes to health care in the U.S., no two states are more different than Texas and Massachusetts, which boast the highest and lowest rates of uninsured people, respectively. Those differences come into stark relief in the lives of Texan Melinda Maarouf and Massachusetts resident Peter Brook.

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March 16, 2012 KHNUnlike Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and other conservative states in the South, Mississippi is well on its way to having an insurance exchange ready for operation by the 2014 deadline laid out by the health overhaul law.

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February 28, 2012 Some health insurers are angling to appeal to millions of new insurance shoppers by opening retail stores where people can buy a policy, check on an existing claim, maybe even take a class in healthy cooking or yoga.

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February 15, 2012 The Obama administration claims health insurance companies won't have a problem providing free contraceptive coverage for women who work at religious groups because it is much cheaper for the industry when pregnancies are planned.

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February 13, 2012 It's a question that Catholic-sponsored employers have objected to the administration's requirement that health plans cover contraceptives at no charge to the insured. What about coverage for medicines to help men with erectile dysfunction?

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January 31, 2012 KHNDespite the federal overhaul of health care, people in the pools are left out because of a wrinkle in legal language. The high-risk pools aren't licensed as insurers in most states, so they're not subject to the federal law.

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January 27, 2012 Mitt Romney offered a vigorous defense Thursday night of Massachusetts' decision to mandate that nearly every resident either have health insurance or pay a tax penalty. In fact, some say it was the best defense of the individual mandate made by any candidate — including the president — so far this election cycle.

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January 20, 2012 Final rules requiring insurance plans to cover prescription contraceptives will give religious-based hospitals and other organizations whose primary purpose is not religious an extra year to come into compliance. But the requirement remains, despite vigorous objections from some groups.

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January 12, 2012 Just 1 percent of the population accounted for 21.8 percent of all U.S. health spending in 2009. And just 5 percent accounted for half the total spending.

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December 16, 2011 KHNA federal fund that has given employers a financial incentive to keep providing health insurance coverage for early retirees is winding down at year's end. Did it work?

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