Health insurer Aetna Inc. said Wednesday its second-quarter net income rose 9 percent in part because it benefited from a continued slowdown in the use of health care services by its members. The company also raised its full-year earnings forecast.

Wealthy countries all over the world are dealing with debts and strained budgets as they mop up after the Great Recession and brace for the budget-busting retirement of the baby boomer generation. But the United States is in a bigger fix than almost anyone else.

Thwarted by conservatives in his own Republican Party, House Speaker John Boehner scrambled Tuesday to secure enough GOP votes to beat a fast-closing Aug. 2 deadline and stave off the potential financial chaos of the nation's first-ever default.