We both lost our jobs as public health diplomats with the U.S. Agency for International Development last summer. Our termination from federal service also meant that both of us lost our health insurance coverage. The complex process of finding coverage outside of employer-provided plans was chaotic, distressing, and illuminating of our cognitive biases. And these challenges compounded the already painful experience of an unexpected loss of both a job and professional identity.

Lamentably, over the coming months and years, our individual experiences are set to replicate themselves on a national scale.

The government spending bill passed days after we were laid off will make significant cuts to federal funds supporting Medicaid and subsidizing the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Paired wi

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