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Employer-sponsored health insurance is rapidly deteriorating. In 2027, premiums are expected to see their largest single-year increase in two decades, jumping 11% and closing in on a nearly four-fold increase this century. The amount workers pay for their portion today would have covered the entire premium in 2000. (Kathryn Anne Edwards, 9/28)

The MIT professor’s new book examines the hazards of ‘pretend empathy.’ (Hope Reese, 9/28)

Concerns about military readiness, workforce shortages, rising health care costs, affordability, and America’s ability to compete in an increasingly challenging world seem to play on a loop without any sign of progress. Maybe that’s because these challenging and seemingly intractable problems are usually treated as separate crises requiring separate solutions. They are not. (Tina L. Cheng, James M. Perrin and Stanley McChrystal, 9/29)

As the largest SNAP cuts in the program’s history have taken effect around the country, at least 1.5 million children have stopped receiving food assistance. The consequences go beyond hunger. Research suggests that when families lose access to food assistance, they may face a greater risk of investigation by child protective services — and, ultimately, being separated. (Sandy Santana and Kristen Weber, 9/29)

We have built a culture that views a death in the I.C.U. as a failure. (Daniela J. Lamas, 9/28)