The Commonwealth Fund

Evidence of a mental health crisis is everywhere — from the recent surgeon general advisory about social media’s effects on our youth to the pandemic’s documented impact on medical professionals. To whom does a college student turn for help so far from home? And who cares for the mental health of those caring for us?

As climate change intensifies and New Yorkers face record-breaking heat, the city is taking new measures to protect residents’ health. Landlords will soon have to provide air conditioning to tenants, school bus fleets are going electric, and efforts are underway to make housing more affordable.

Amy Allen has her blood drawn at One Medical in Washington, D.C., on December 15, 2023. Private equity investment in health care could become yet another factor affecting health system performance, particularly in parts of the U.S. where performance is already poor. Photo: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Washington Post via Getty Images

Maxine Fuqua, 33 (right), of Wilmar, Ark., is examined by Leia O’Fallon, APRN, with the help of Fuqua’s daughter Kael, 8, during a routine checkup at 29 weeks pregnant at Mainline Health Monticello Clinic on March 21, 2024, in Monticello, Ark. States like Arkansas with abortion bans and restrictions in place tend to have fewer providers practicing in obstetrics and gynecology. Photo: Jahi Chikwendiu/Washington Post via Getty Images

Guide-dogs-in-training wait patiently with their handlers during an event hosted by Guide Dogs for the Blind and Alaska Airlines, where dogs, handlers, and people with disabilities were able to explore mock airplanes and learn various safety measures in a controlled environment, on Oct. 21, 2019, in the Alaska Airlines Flight Operations Training Center at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Current estimates of disability are based on a six-question survey that asks about functional limitations but does not paint a complete picture of disability. Photo: Genna Martin/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives leave the U.S. Capitol after a series of votes on September 25, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Health care priorities for the lame-duck Congress include extending temporary telehealth flexibilities, reauthorizing funding for safety-net programs, and voting on legislation to lower health care and drug costs. Photo: Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images

People gather to honor victims of gun-related deaths at a vigil organized by the Tennessee Hispanic Action Network in Public Square Park in Nashville, Tenn., on September 20, 2024. Nearly all U.S. states have a higher firearm mortality rate than most other countries. Photo: Seth Herald/AFP via Getty Images

Ananias Ocampo receives paperwork following an appointment with a dermatologist at Cook County Health in Chicago on March 14, 2022. Four states — Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, and New Mexico — have taken steps to modify billing and collection practices and increase financial assistance to patients. Photo: Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Regulations are a fundamental part of health policy. Congress legislates in broad terms and agencies fill in technical details on myriad issues, from how Medicaid eligibility is determined to how Medicare providers are paid to how new drugs are approved for market. A recent Supreme Court decision, Loper Bright v. Raimondo

A transgender flag lies on the grass outside the U.S. Capitol building during the “Trans Youth Prom” on May 22, 2023, in Washington, D.C. An upcoming Supreme Court case will determine whether a state law prohibiting medical treatment for minors with gender dysphoria constitutes a form of sex-based discrimination. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images