The flu sickens millions of people in the U.S. every year, and the past year has been particularly tough. Although infections are trending downward, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called the winter of 2024-2025 a “high severity” season^[1] with the highest hospitalization rate in 15 years^[2].

Since early 2024, a different kind of flu called bird flu, formally known as avian influenza, has been spreading...

Many Americans were relieved when the Supreme Court left the Affordable Care Act in place following the law’s third major legal challenge^[1] in June 2021. This decision permitted widely supported policies^[2] to continue, such as ensuring health coverage regardless of preexisting conditions^[3], allowing coverage for dependents up to age 26^[4] on their parents’ plan, and removing annual and lifetime benefit limits^[5].

But millions...