An interesting piece (review of Steven Brill's America's Bitter Pill) by Malcolm Gladwell:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/12/bill-6
Steven Brill on Charlie Rose Show
http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2015-01-12/america-s-bitter-pill-charlie-rose-01-12
Back in 2010, PBS's Frontline had a very interesting report on the same topic:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamasdeal/