Even for conventional medical treatments that are covered under most health insurance policies, the large copays and high deductibles have left many Americans with big bills, says a health economist, who sees the rise in medical fundraisers as worrisome. Roy Scott/Ikon Images/Getty Images hide caption
Selling short-term health plan is lucrative for brokers and insurers. skynesher/Getty Images hide caption
Susie Christoff tried several drugs to cope with her painful psoriatic arthritis before finding Cosentyx worked the best. The problem was the cost. Chris Bartlett/for Kaiser Health News hide caption
The "Medicaid Drug Decisions Transparency Act" would require pharmaceutical companies to disclose their payments to pharmacists and others who serve on state Medicaid drug boards — the advisory groups that decide which drugs Medicaid will and won't cover. Gary Waters/Ikon Images/Getty Images hide caption
The deadline for signing up for individual health insurance coverage on HealthCare.gov ends Saturday, Dec. 15. Patrick Sison/AP hide caption
Isela was denied life insurance because her medication list showed a prescription for the opioid-reversal drug naloxone. The Boston Medical Center nurse says she wants to have the drug on hand so she can save others. Jesse Costa/WBUR hide caption
Currently students of color are underrepresented in medical schools, but their numbers are slowly growing. Getty Images hide caption
A business decision by UnitedHealthcare, the nation's largest health insurance carrier, to drop a popular fitness benefit has upset many people covered by the company's Medicare plans. Mladen Zivkovic/Getty Images hide caption
Medicare's new program will alter a year's worth of payments to 14,959 skilled nursing facilities across the U.S., based on how often in the past fiscal year their residents ended up back in hospitals within 30 days of leaving. BSIP/Getty Images hide caption
The Trump administration said Thursday it wants states to innovate in ways that could produce more lower-cost health insurance options — even if those alternatives do not provide the same level of financial or medical coverage as an ACA plan. Getty Images hide caption
Shereese Hickson was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012 and is unable to work. She supports herself and her son, Isaiah, on $770 a month. Shane Wynn for KHN hide caption
Tianjin, in northern China, is home to Tianjin University, an international research center that recently hired an American to lead its school of pharmaceutical science and technology. He recruits students from all over the world, he says, and the program's classes are taught in English. Prisma Bildagentur/UIG/Getty Images hide caption
Dr. Kimberly Remski was told by a potential employer that she couldn't provide abortions during her free time, something she felt called to do. "I realized it was something I really needed to do," she says. Kim Kovacik for NPR hide caption
Ochsner Baptist Medical Center in New Orleans hasn't needed device reps' help since it started using technology from a company called Sight Medical that handles inventory management. Courtesy of Sight Medical hide caption
More than half of all counties in the 39 states that rely on the federal HealthCare.gov exchange for ACA health insurance are experiencing a 10 percent price decrease, on average, for their cheapest plan for 2019. Patrick Sison/AP hide caption