Health Care Heartaches: Your Winning Health Policy Valentines

Why It Matters

The collection underscores growing consumer dissatisfaction with billing practices and access gaps, signaling pressure on policymakers and insurers to address cost transparency and care equity.

Key Takeaways

• Upcoding remains a major billing grievance.
• Insurance premiums continue rising for consumers.
• AI and telehealth emerge as care alternatives.
• Menopause expertise gaps highlighted by patients.
• Reader submissions reveal widespread policy frustration.

Pulse Analysis

The Valentine’s edition of KFF Health News illustrates how patient sentiment is increasingly being channeled through creative outlets. While the poems and cartoons are light‑hearted, they expose deep‑seated concerns about upcoding—a practice where providers inflate procedure codes to boost reimbursements. This billing abuse fuels rising premiums, eroding trust in the health‑insurance market and prompting calls for stricter oversight and price transparency. By capturing these frustrations, the piece adds a human dimension to ongoing debates about cost containment and regulatory reform.

Simultaneously, the submissions highlight the accelerating role of technology in health care. References to AI‑driven robots and telehealth solutions reflect a broader shift toward digital care models, accelerated by pandemic‑era adoption. While patients appreciate the convenience, they also worry about the quality and continuity of care when human providers are scarce. This tension underscores the need for robust policy frameworks that ensure AI tools complement, rather than replace, clinician expertise, and that telehealth reimbursement keeps pace with evolving usage patterns.

Finally, the collection surfaces less‑discussed gaps, such as the scarcity of menopause specialists, revealing how specific patient populations feel overlooked. These niche concerns, when amplified through public storytelling, can drive targeted advocacy and inform policymakers about underserved segments. Overall, the Valentine’s showcase serves as a barometer of public sentiment, urging stakeholders to prioritize transparent billing, equitable access to emerging technologies, and comprehensive care for all demographic groups.

Health Care Heartaches: Your Winning Health Policy Valentines

By KFF Health News Staff, Illustration by Oona Zenda · February 13, 2026

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.

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1st Place

Image description: A hand‑drawn cartoon of a person sitting amongst heart‑shaped pillows. They have opened a letter from a hospital, which includes an up‑coded bill for “#truluv” and an X‑ray showing a heart that isn’t full. The poem below the cartoon reads:

I thought it was love

My heart felt spring‑loaded

Turns out our relationship

Was significantly upcoded by Andrew Carleen

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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

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Other Newsroom Favorites

Damn, girl.

Are you a menopause expert?

Because it’s been impossible to find you.

— Priya Bathija

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Feeling lonely on Valentine’s with no PCP

I 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

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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