Martha Bebinger

Nationwide veteran benefits data show a huge variation in coverage from state to state, and even within states. In Massachusetts, access to VA services changes dramatically from Boston to Cape Cod.

A state law now requires insurers to reveal prices of their medical tests, and the variation is amazing, bargain hunters say. An MRI of the back is $614 at one place, $1,800 at another.

A Cape Cod treatment center says it is breaking addiction's hold — and saving money — by offering newly released patients daily, or even hourly, coaching by paid consultants.

When Massachusetts passed its landmark health insurance law under Gov. Mitt Romney in 2006, no one claimed the state would get to zero — as in 0 percent of residents who are uninsured. But numbers out this week suggest Massachusetts is very close.

Between December 2013 and March of ...

Fewer people died in Massachusetts after the state required people to have health insurance, according to researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health.

In each of the first four years of the state law, 320 fewer Massachusetts men and women died than would have been expected. That's one life ...

A data scientist pitted rappers against Shakespeare to see who had the more extensive vocabulary. But he says he isn't trying to make some sweeping statement about the lyrical prowess of hip-hop.

At last year's Boston Marathon, Carol Downing was just half a mile from the finish line when bombs exploded and injured two of her daughters. This year, she's returning to complete the race.

How much is that colonoscopy? Finding out can range from hard to impossible. Massachusetts now requires that health care providers give patients prices within two days. But that doesn't always happen.

I threw out my back in September playing squash and went to the doctor. She sent me down the hall for X-rays. I may need more of them.

So I'm curious, how much does an X-ray cost? It sounds like a simple question. In most places, it's impossible to find ...

Even as Dr. Donald Berwick runs for governor of Massachusetts, he's got a firm foothold in his former life as an expert on health quality.

Berwick, most recently known as the acting chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, was the founder and longtime CEO of the nonprofit

Two years ago, Dorothy Holmes, then 75, was in the cozy pink bathroom of her home getting ready to shower when she fell. It's the type of accident that's common among older Americans — and it's often the very thing that triggers the end of independence.

"I got a big ...

Christine Porter is hooked on the MyFitnessPal app. In October, after deciding to lose 50 pounds, Porter started typing in everything she eats, drinks and any exercise she gets.

"This is my main page here," says Porter. "It's telling me I have about 1,200 calories remaining for the day. When ...

Marc Fucarile reached a huge milestone this week: He was one of the last two Boston Marathon bombing survivors to be released from the hospital.

Fucarile spent 45 days in Massachusetts General Hospital, and he hopes someday to get back to work with a roofing company.

But first he ...