For the hundreds of rural U.S. hospitals struggling to stay in business, health policy decisions made in Washington, D.C., this summer could make survival a lot tougher. Since 2010, at least 79 rural hospitals have closed across the country, and nearly 700 more are at risk of closing. These hospitals serve a largely older, poorer, and sicker population than…

For the first time in her life, 26-year-old freelance designer Susannah Lohr had to shop for health insurance this year. She called up a major insurer in the St. Louis area where she lives, and it offered her a plan with a hefty $6,000 deductible — that’s the amount she would have to cover herself…