Nothing melts our hearts like a health policy valentine. Readers made us swoon this season, writing poetic lines about prescription drug pricing, medical debt, primary care shortages, and more.听
Here are some of our favorites, starting with the grand prize winner and first runner-up, whose entries were each turned into a cartoon by staff illustrator Oona Tempest.听
1st Place
Darling, this Valentine鈥檚 Day,
let鈥檚 grab our passports
and fly away to someplace,
where the same drugs cost a fraction
of what they do in the States.
鈥� Jennifer Reck听
Runner-Up听
I saw the doctor for a check,
I had a lump in my right breast.
Two weeks for the answer.
It wasn鈥檛 cancer.
So instead of death, I鈥檓 in debt.
鈥� Sunshine Moore Anger
Other Newsroom Favorites听
I was lost in the sadness听
and shock of you leaving,听
Tore my eyes away听
from my Morning Briefing听
How could you leave us,听
Why would you stray?听
When you are loved so dearly by the ACA?听
But I realized too late,听
鈥橳was not to be,听
My primary care no longer loved me听
鈥� Zac Aulson听
Parental love is beautiful听
And guess what makes it stronger听
A paid parental leave policy听
To stay with baby longer听
鈥� Andrea Ferguson听
The paperwork flirts with my affections,听
A dance of denials, full of rejections.听
My heart yearns for you, my sweet medication, but insurance insists on prior authorization.听
鈥� Sally Nix听
My love for you, darling, is blinding听
Like a clinical trial pre-findings听
But I fear we shall part听
And I鈥檒l lose my heart听
Because of Medicaid unwinding!听
鈥� Kara Gavin听