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With 91% of the population now covered by some form of health insurance, and the coverage rate higher in some states, the next big debate in health policy could be about the adequacy of coverage. That particularly means rising payments for deductibles and their impact on family budgets and access to care. This is about not just Obamacare but also the many more people who get insurance through an employer. (Drew Altman, 6/30)

This week, the National Summit on Preventing Youth Violence convened over 600 Justice Department officials, police chiefs, school leaders, health officials and young people from more than 30 cities in Baltimore to discuss our city's strategy for reducing youth violence. (Leana S. Wen, 7/1)

Just when you thought congressional misfeasance couldn’t get any worse, along comes political gamesmanship to sink funding to fight a public health menace. Somewhere today, probably in Florida, are pregnant women who’ve been bitten by mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus. In coming months, they’ll give birth to babies with severe birth defects. And they’ll have Congress to thank. (6/30)

The National Cancer Moonshot, an initiative headed by Vice President Joe Biden, sounds like it aims to cure cancer once and for all. Look at the details, though, and you’ll realize it lacks that noble goal and the singular focus of Present John F. Kennedy’s original moonshot — putting a man on the moon by 1969. Here’s how the vice president could reshape his initiative to match the focus of the original moonshot and make a real difference: aim to cure a single currently untreatable type of cancer. A key figure in American history links both the real moonshot and the one I am proposing: Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who first set foot on lunar soil. (Anil Adyanthaya, 6/30)

One of my patients recently had her request for a relatively common medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Vyvanse, denied by her insurance provider. I tried to appeal the decision, but her father — the chief executive of a health care company who purchased insurance for hundreds of employees — had better luck. He called up the head of the insurance company and got the drug approved. Last year, my 5-year-old fractured her ankle. The bill for the 12-minute orthopedist’s appointment was $1,125, and about half of it was covered by insurance. I wrote the doctor a letter — please revise this bill, as it is clearly erroneous — and included my “M.D.” Instead, the doctor left me a message saying he was waiving the bill entirely as a professional courtesy. (Vatsal G. Thakkar, 6/30)

I’m a man of science and a lover of history; after studying the classics at Princeton, I trained in psychiatry at Yale and in psychoanalysis at Columbia. That background is why a Catholic priest had asked my professional opinion, which I offered pro bono, about whether this woman was suffering from a mental disorder. This was at the height of the national panic about Satanism. (In a case that helped induce the hysteria, Virginia McMartin and others had recently been charged with alleged Satanic ritual abuse at a Los Angeles preschool; the charges were later dropped.) So I was inclined to skepticism. But my subject’s behavior exceeded what I could explain with my training. She could tell some people their secret weaknesses, such as undue pride. She knew how individuals she’d never known had died, including my mother and her fatal case of ovarian cancer. Six people later vouched to me that, during her exorcisms, they heard her speaking multiple languages, including Latin, completely unfamiliar to her outside of her trances. This was not psychosis; it was what I can only describe as paranormal ability. I concluded that she was possessed. Much later, she permitted me to tell her story. (Richard Gallagher, 7/1)

What’s next for Sanders supporters in the wake of a disappointing loss? They will find ballot initiatives – and one in particular – of great interest in California’s November election. For this reason, we expect to see the Sanders voters return to the polls and have a broad impact on election outcomes. First and foremost is an initiative that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana. (Mark Baldassare, 6/30)

The Iowa Board of Medicine took a big symbolic step forward this month to enhance its public accountability when it seated the first non-physician to chair the board that has overseen the licensure and regulation of Iowa’s physicians for 130 years. Diane Clark of Lake Mills was elected chair at the board’s organizational meeting in April and presided over her first meeting June 2-3 without fanfare. Gov. Terry Branstad appointed Clark to the board in 2011 and reappointed her in 2014. For the past three years, she has served on the board’s executive committee and was chair of the licensure committee. (Mark Bowden, 6/30)

The drinking water calamity in Flint, Mich., has drifted off the radar screen for many Americans. Yet the Flint mess — a massive failure of responsible government — is far from being permanently fixed. And its lessons go well beyond Michigan. CNN recently reported that some 5,300 water systems in the U.S. violate the Environmental Protection Agency’s lead and copper contamination rules and that’s a conservative estimate. (6/30)

A footnote in a letter from Gov. Maggie Hassan last September to the state Board of Medicine pointed to a “glaring example” of the outdated guidelines doctors were using when prescribing controlled drugs. The state’s opioid crisis is fueled in part by overuse and abuse of these addictive prescribed painkillers, the governor wrote, but the guidelines are “mere recommendations” that by their own admission are even “weak” in some parts. She cited “concerning language” in a patient consent form: “I am aware that the chance of becoming addicted to my pain medication is very low.” (7/1)

For some time, many families have either feared or dealt with the impact of their children having autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, and/or intellectual disabilities. Options to reduce the chance of one's child developing such neurodevelopmental disorders have been limited. (Arthur Lavin, 7/1)

At 17, Patrick talks of medical procedures like many kids his age discuss video games. Experimental T-cell therapy. Genetically engineered. Reinfusions. The patient sounds like a doctor. A cancer diagnosis will do that to you, even at a young age. Since he was 5, Patrick has battled lymphoblastic lymphoma five separate times. In the past, chemotherapy and stem cell transplants have weakened his body. (Amanda Beam, 6/30)