Health Care Heartaches: Your Winning Health Policy Valentines

Health policy has never looked so flirtatious. Every year, our readers send us valentines that make us swoon, laugh, and occasionally clutch our insurance cards. And in 2026, you did not hold back. You wrote about overcharging, rising insurance, AI in health care, and more.

Here are some of our favorites, starting with the poem that stole our hearts like a $0 billing balance — and then was turned into a cartoon by KFF Health News staff illustrator Oona Zenda.

1st Place

Runner-Up

A box of chocolates?A dozen roses?Just the usual Valentine’s occurrence.I’d rather Cupid chip in for my rising insurance.

– Laura Wagner 

Other Newsroom Favorites 

Damn, girl.Are you a menopause expert?Because it’s been impossible to find you.

– Priya Bathija

Feeling lonely on Valentine’s with no PCPI call all the offices, but no one can see me.My insurance suggests telehealth to thicken the plot,but with no one around, I’ll seek care from an AI robot.

– Sara Culley

Roses are red,Violets are blue,If I had to choose health insurance or my house,I wouldn’t know what to do.

– Thy-Ann Nguyen 

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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