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As policymakers in Washington consider large cuts to Medicaid, provider groups, entrepreneurs, technologists, and investors may feel compelled to turn their efforts away from the program. We believe this would be a profound mistake. (Nate Favini, Andrey Ostrovsky and Neil Batlivala, 5/14)

As congressional Republicans eye Medicaid cuts that would eviscerate health care for working people and endanger rural hospitals, a call for compassion and political sanity is coming from a source that hasn’t historically been a bastion of either: U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley. (5/13)

One year ago, Congressman Donald Payne Jr. died while waiting for a kidney. He had planned to lead the End Kidney Deaths Act (H.R. 2687), bipartisan legislation that would save 100,000 lives and billions in federal spending. His death is a tragic reminder that even members of Congress are not spared from the deadly shortage of transplantable kidneys. (Lindsay Gutierrez, 5/13)

Illinois teens are turning to alcohol and drug use at alarming rates. New research published May 8 from the University of Illinois finds that alcohol use among Illinois teens is now double the national average, a shocking finding. Other drugs, including cannabis and prescription painkillers, are gaining ground as well. Are the kids OK? Increasingly, the data says no. (5/13)

The stares — eyes on me from every direction. They look at me, but I can’t help what I look like. At times I have felt that I am living outside of my body. There is a stigma around my disease– that of being sloppy and unclean. It’s affected my mental health and I’ve suffered from depression, having withdrawn from society at times. The medication should help. I’ve finally found a solution after years of suffering, but the cost is so high. Is my condition obesity or eczema? We could be talking about either one. Medications for both are considered “vanity drugs,” but only one is covered by insurance without much fanfare. (Sarah Makowicki, 5/14)

Instead of vaccination, [Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] has promoted immunity induced from infection while treating adverse consequences. But infection comes with significant risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who contract measles end up needing hospitalization. As many as 1 in 20 develop pneumonia. For every 1,000 kids with measles, about one to three will die. (Leana S. Wen, 5/13)

The health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ... has deservedly earned a reputation for embracing pseudoscience and making hyperbolic claims about public health — autism, vaccines, fluoride. But when it comes to the chemicals in our food, the situation may be even worse than he describes. It’s certainly more mysterious than many of us appreciate when we sit down to dinner. (Julia Belluz, 5/12)