You did it again, readers! We received more than three dozen Halloween haiku submissions in KHN\u2019s fourth annual Halloween haiku contest. Our expert panel of judges took the ghastly challenge of choosing the best head-on \u2026 or off. Here\u2019s the winner, which was recited by Julie Rovner on last week\u2019s \u201cWhat the Health?\u201d podcast, plus a sampling of finalists illustrated by Oona Tempest. The judges\u2019 favorites drew inspiration from real-life viral outbreaks and the burden of haunting medical bills. Keep an eye on KHN\u2019s social media accounts (Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook) for more of our favorites. Enjoy!<\/p>\n

1st Place <\/strong><\/p>\n

(Oona Tempest \/ KHN)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Covid, Ebola,
Monkeypox, seasonal flu \u2014
Who needs Halloween?<\/p>\n
\u2014 *Paul Hughes-Cromwick<\/em> <\/p>\n*
*Inspiration: 24\/7 ghosts, goblins, and pathogens<\/p>\n*
\n
\n
**2nd Place <\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"A$
(Oona Tempest \/ KHN)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Surprise billing curbs,
Like the famed headless horseman,
Remain incomplete.<\/p>\n
\u2014 *Michael L. Millenson<\/em><\/em> <\/p>\n*
*Inspiration: \u201cHow to Avoid Surprise Bills \u2014 And the Pitfalls in the New Law<\/a>\u201c<\/p>\n*
\n
**3rd Place <\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"A$ <\/figure>\n
Ghastly, grotesque, sick!
You mask up to trick-or-treat,
But not for covid?<\/p>\n
\u2014 *Micki Jackson<\/em> <\/p>\n*
*Inspiration: The ongoing mask-or-not masquerade<\/p>\n*
\n
While Halloween may be coming to an end, KHN reporting continues year-round. **Send us your haikus<\/strong> at any time for possible inclusion in our Morning Briefing:\u00a0https:\/\/khn.org\/contact-haiku\/<\/a><\/p>\n**
$\"\"$
(Oona Tempest \/ KHN)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
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\n\t\t\t\tRelated Topics\t\t\t<\/h3>\n
\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tContact Us\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tSubmit a Story Tip\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You did it again, readers! We received more than three dozen Halloween haiku submissions in KHN\u2019s fourth annual Halloween haiku contest. Our expert panel of judges took the ghastly challenge of choosing the best head-on \u2026 or off. Here\u2019s the winner, which was recited by Julie Rovner on last week\u2019s \u201cWhat the Health?\u201d podcast, plus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions\/334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

(Oona Tempest \/ KHN)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Covid, Ebola,
Monkeypox, seasonal flu \u2014
Who needs Halloween?<\/p>\n
\u2014 *Paul Hughes-Cromwick<\/em> <\/p>\n*
*Inspiration: 24\/7 ghosts, goblins, and pathogens<\/p>\n*
\n
\n
**2nd Place <\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"A$
(Oona Tempest \/ KHN)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Surprise billing curbs,
Like the famed headless horseman,
Remain incomplete.<\/p>\n
\u2014 *Michael L. Millenson<\/em><\/em> <\/p>\n*
*Inspiration: \u201cHow to Avoid Surprise Bills \u2014 And the Pitfalls in the New Law<\/a>\u201c<\/p>\n*
\n
**3rd Place <\/strong><\/p>\n**
$\"A$ <\/figure>\n
Ghastly, grotesque, sick!
You mask up to trick-or-treat,
But not for covid?<\/p>\n
\u2014 *Micki Jackson<\/em> <\/p>\n*
*Inspiration: The ongoing mask-or-not masquerade<\/p>\n*
\n
While Halloween may be coming to an end, KHN reporting continues year-round. **Send us your haikus<\/strong> at any time for possible inclusion in our Morning Briefing:\u00a0https:\/\/khn.org\/contact-haiku\/<\/a><\/p>\n**
$\"\"$
(Oona Tempest \/ KHN)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\tRelated Topics\t\t\t<\/h3>\n
\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tContact Us\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tSubmit a Story Tip\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You did it again, readers! We received more than three dozen Halloween haiku submissions in KHN\u2019s fourth annual Halloween haiku contest. Our expert panel of judges took the ghastly challenge of choosing the best head-on \u2026 or off. Here\u2019s the winner, which was recited by Julie Rovner on last week\u2019s \u201cWhat the Health?\u201d podcast, plus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions\/334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}