![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/29d292797379b1dafa338aac6678d67bdea89d33dbfe588aeebf745eaa72a979/BITTER-PILL-alt-crop.jpg)
TIME
BITTER PILL
TIME
BITTER PILL
BITTER PILL
For this special report cover story, we went for a visual rhetorical trope, bold in simplicity, leading straight to the core of the subject: the rapidely increasing, bitterly exorbitant costs of medical care in the United States. To convey the message in its full force, we created a classic uncoated (and famously horribly bitter) physical pill prop adorned with the headline, maximizing the tactile feel of the treatment through macro-photography.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f4effd83f30b9055101445ce8321684c497ec469d1283b9f6f420e2a2d8f4182/BITTER-PILL_square_4.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7079517125b16f8fd0fa9360bbd95f58073343ab8a980ee3c7561cef15880f42/TIME_Bitter_Pill_white.jpg)