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When Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit in 2021, monthly childhood poverty dropped by nearly 30 percent, pulling 3.7 million children out of poverty. However, when the Child Tax Credit expired at the end of that year, 3.7 million children were pushed back into poverty, potentially harming their health, learning, and futures. As legislators debate tax policy this fall, they must make reinstating the expanded Child Tax Credit a priority. (Michael Hole and Matt Alexander, 8/23)

Even before the COVID pandemic, a large review of 60 scientific studies showed physicians were at significantly higher risk for suicide than the general population. (Ed Davis and Jonathan Olshaker, 8/23)

The news that the weight loss drug Wegovy reduced the risk of heart attacks and strokes in overweight volunteers opens up the door to vastly expanded use of the drug and medicines like it, known as GLP-1 inhibitors. That could have a big, positive impact on public health, and it will very likely swell the coffers of the pharmaceutical companies that make these medicines, including Wegovy’s maker, Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly, now the most valuable drug company in history thanks largely to hopes for its GLP-1, Mounjaro. (Matthew Herper, 8/24)

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is commendably investigating a controversial health care practice — cutting off nonemergency outpatient care for patients behind on their bills — after a New York Times story spotlighted Allina Health's use of this debt collection strategy earlier this summer. (8/23)

U.S. News & World Report recently issued its 2023-24 Best Hospitals ratings. The ratings come at a time of increased scrutiny and skepticism of ranking systems. In very public ways, many colleges, law schools, and medical schools have declined to participate in the U.S. News process, while some hospitals have expressed their desire to abandon the rankings as well. These stakeholders’ concerns center on the purpose of these ranking systems and whether their methodologies serve the best interests of consumers. (Brian Stein and Bala Hota, 8/24)

Here’s a sure sign of bad customer service: Long hold times. We’ve all been there. You call up a hotline for a company or government agency to resolve an important problem, only nobody can take your call right away. So you sit and wait — through awful music and occasional assurances that “your call is very important to us,” hoping and waiting for an actual human to come on the line. Is there anything more frustrating? Maybe not in Missouri, and certainly not for Medicaid applicants. The state just might just be the reigning grand champion of terrible service for its most vulnerable residents. (8/24)