Editor's note

As Republicans pressure recalcitrant lawmakers to support the Senate’s version of the bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the Congressional Budget Office Monday issued its verdict: 22 million Americans by 2026 would be uninsured under the legislation. Beyond the big numbers, this “feeble alternative” to Obamacare would have disastrous consequences for rural Americans and worsen the already wide urban-rural health care gap, write the University of California, Berkeley’s Claire Snell-Rood and the University of New Mexico’s Cathleen Willging.

Jeff Bezos isn’t a leading philanthropist – yet. But the Amazon founder recently declared he was seeking advice from the public, via Twitter, regarding the causes he should back. Ted Lechterman, a scholar who studies the ethics of philanthropy, explains how Bezos is taking a very different approach to charitable giving than most mega-donors.

Ten years ago this week, Apple released the first iPhone. Within six years, the majority of Americans owned a smartphone. While the device has improved many aspects our everyday lives, we look at some of the smartphone’s social costs – and how the first generation of kids to grow up with smartphones has been affected.

Finally, we are pleased to announce the launch of The Conversation Canada, the sixth international edition of The Conversation. See this essay from the site’s co-founders – two journalists-turned academics – to learn how it will bring our innovative model of journalism to Canada.

Bryan Keogh

Editor, Economics and Business

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Rural hospitals, such as this one in Wedowee, Alabama, are struggling to stay open. AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

AHCA would make rural America's already distressed health care worse

Claire Snell-Rood, University of California, Berkeley; Cathleen Willging, University of New Mexico

Health outcomes for rural Americans have steadily deteriorated in recent decades even as they've improved elsewhere. The GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act will worsen the problem.

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