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In rural Mississippi, the number of doctors per person is among the lowest in the country. Now, a new scholarship program is trying to attract medical students to begin their practice there. The success — or failure — of the program depends largely on the recruiter's ability to pick the right students.

With all the attention focused on the Supreme Court hearings on the fate of the Affordable Care Act, it might seem that the future of all reforms to the health care system is in the balance. But some in the insurance industry say many changes are already in motion.

Chances are your domestic health plan won't pick up the tab for medical care overseas, and it almost certainly won't cover you if you're seriously hurt and need to be evacuated by air to a medical facility. Even special polices to help overseas may not be enough if you engage in risky adventures.

One section of the health law says its wellness programs can't require participants to give information about guns in their homes. But public health scholars criticize the measure because they say it keeps doctors and nurses from doing their jobs.

Only 17 states and the District of Columbia have proposed running their own insurance markets. Experts had expected mostly small states to seek federal help, but some of the nation's largest have said they will not run an exchange on their own.

People hoping to save a few dollars by choosing insurance with low upfront costs may be losing out. Hospitals and other health care providers sometimes fail to apply discounts when individuals, rather than insurers, are paying the bills.

Health insurers sometimes pay too much to a doctor or hospital for services rendered. When insurers look to get their money back, patients may be surprised to get stuck with the bills.

A growing number of teenage girls are incarcerated each year. Many have injuries consistent with sexual assault, and up to a third are or have been pregnant. But the care provided in detention is often inadequate for girls because the assessment of their needs misses the mark.

The nation's biggest insurer is starting to dole out bonuses and penalties to nearly 3,000 hospitals as it ties almost $1 billion in payments to the quality of care provided to patients.

Hospice policies that reject patients on the grounds that no one's at home to care for them, while increasingly rare, do still exist around the country. But for many families, that's just not an option.