Nothing melts our hearts like a health policy Valentine. This season, our readers wowed us with their poetic lines about prescription drug pricing, medical debt, primary care shortages, and more.
Here are some of our favorite works, including the grand prize winner and runner-up, as well as some of our favorite works, which were made into comics by staff illustrator Oona Tempest.
First place
Darling, this Valentine’s Day, grab your passport and fly somewhere where the same medicine costs a fraction of what it costs in America.
— Jennifer Reck
runner-up
I went to the doctor for a test. There was a lump in her right breast. It took her two weeks to answer. It wasn’t cancer. So instead of death there is a debt.— Sunshine Moore Unger
More newsroom favorites
The sadness and shock of losing you has made me feel lost and turned away from the morning briefing. How could you leave us? How could you veer off course? When you are so loved by ACA? But I realized too late, “It couldn’t be like that, my main care didn’t love me anymore.”
– Zach Olson
Parental love is beautiful Guess what makes it stronger Paid parental leave policy To be with your baby longer
– Andrea Ferguson
The papers are full of rejection, a dance of rejection, toying with my affections. My heart longs for you, my sweet medicine, but insurance requires prior approval.
– Sally Nix
Darling, my love for you is blinding It’s like the results of a clinical trial, but I’m afraid we’ll break up And I’m losing my heart because of Medicaid cancellation!
– Kara Gavin
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