The Senate is set to vote on a measure to target the growing epidemic of opioid addictions. The bill has many new policies and initiatives, but it doesn't come with money to put them into practice.

The deductibles that most people actually pay are much lower than those advertised because of subsidies, according to a report released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

A new NPR poll shows about a third of working adults have no sick leave, even as more people are living with chronic health problems that require regular care.

The government is raising the limit on the number of patients a doctor can treat for opioid addiction using the drug buprenorphine to 275 from 100. The move expands office-based treatment options.

The state this week became the 31st in the nation to expand Medicaid to the working poor. It's also the first state in the Deep South to embrace the Obamacare program.

For the first time the nation's pediatricians point to bullying, both online and in real life, as increasing the risk of suicide for teenagers.

Hospital deaths are more expensive and intrusive than deaths at home, in hospice care or even in nursing homes. Financial incentives favor more care, even when it's not always wanted.

Opioid addiction treatment is a growth market, and private equity firms are buying up treatment centers and chains. But it's too soon to say how this might affect access to care and quality.

Back in 1983, Congress authorized a public health emergency fund. But the pot of money was never very substantial and it hasn't been replenished. The fund now stands at $57,000.

The seniors of tomorrow will have much higher rates of diabetes and obesity than the seniors of today, according to a data analysis. That means higher medical bills for them — and for taxpayers, too.

The extended debate in Congress over emergency funding for a response to the Zika virus is forcing public health departments to cut existing prevention and treatment programs.

The Democratic presidential candidate this week floated the idea of allowing people over 50 to "buy in" to Medicare. NPR looks at how that would affect health care costs for everyone else.

The Food and Drug Administration has issued sweeping new rules that tighten its control over e-cigarettes, banning their sale to minors. The agency is also expanding its regulation of tobacco.

An increasing number of opioid abusers are taking huge doses of Imodium to ease withdrawal symptoms or get high. But at those high doses, toxicologists warn, the normally safe drug can stop the heart.

When Renee Powell's premiums exceeded her mortgage payments, it was upsetting. But it's just one way health care costs rise for many voters.

You may be paying $38,000 more for that knee replacement than someone in another state, or even a few hundred miles down the road. And there doesn't seem to be any method to this madness.

White women are dying at a slightly younger age than in the past, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The same report shows the average life expectancy for non-Hispanic black men increased. NPR reports about the possible causes behind these numbers.

Suicide, drug abuse and alcohol have started to shorten the lives of white women, a U.S. report on data from 2013 to 2014 suggests. Life-expectancy for many black men went up from 71.8 years to 72.2.

Blaming a lack of profitability, UnitedHealth says it will drop out of most health marketplaces insurance exchanges next year. The insurer's first quarter profits in 2016 were $1.6 billion.

If UnitedHealth stops selling insurance on marketplaces across the country (and isn't replaced by rivals), premiums for exchange plans could rise modestly — about 1 percent on average.