Perspective

Access to sexual and reproductive health care varies widely by geography, and state-level policies play a major role in establishing the contours that govern the coverage, provision, availability, and costs of services. More

Rural and urban areas have diverged significantly in health care access and health outcomes over the last four decades. More

The US public health system is facing an inflection point characterized by chronic underinvestment, workforce and service delivery challenges, outdated data infrastructure, growing health inequities, and increasing instability within the broader health care safety net including projected Medicaid coverage changes and continued rural hospital closures. More

Housing is a fundamental social determinant of health and is particularly amenable to policy intervention. More

Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration projects are widely used to test innovative policies but are subject to “budget neutrality” limits so that federal expenditures do not exceed what the federal government would have spent if the project was not adopted. More

Racial equity impact assessments (REIAs) are used by local governments to integrate equity considerations into policymaking and decision-making processes by evaluating potential impacts of proposed legislation before enactment. More

From 2021 to 2025, federal nutrition assistance policy in the United States shifted rapidly from expansion to contraction, with major implications for food insecurity, diet quality, and chronic disease risk. More

The United States incarcerates more people per capita than any peer nation, and its criminal justice system disproportionately impacts Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. More

In April 2018, a naked man with an AR-15 burst into a Waffle House restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee. Firing at random, he murdered four people and gravely injured five more before escaping into the night. More

Edmund Pellegrino warned about the growing commodification of health and health care in the United States. After twenty-five years, it is worth revisiting Pellegrino’s critique and examining this critique in the current era. More