The first of four pieces before Election Day, November 3.

Most of what will happen to your health in the next four years will be decided by people on the ballot, or by people they appoint. This is the map: five terms defined plainly (uninsured, Medicaid expansion, medical board, scope of practice, billing code set); the federal layer (Congress, the President and the agencies he appoints: CMS, FDA, NIH); the state layer (governor, legislature, medical board, insurance commissioner, attorney general); what cities actually run; and the official count of what is on the ballot: 36 governors, 35 Senate seats, 435 House seats, 88 of 99 state legislative chambers, 30 attorneys general, 4 insurance commissioners.

Chapters: The definitions · The federal layer · The state layer · And your city · What is on the ballot November 3 · Where I stand.

This week: Tuesday, your state, one page for each of the fifty; Wednesday, seven questions to ask anyone who wants your vote; Thursday, five gifts the public already paid for.

Robin Blackstone, MD, is a surgeon and the author of Doctor AI and American Health: Who Gets Paid. She is not a member of any party, is not raising money, and nobody paid for this piece. She has conflicts of interest like everyone in this field: she founded the companies and the charity that carry this work, and she writes books about it. None of them profit from how you vote.

Full text with every figure and its source: robinblackstone.com/whodecides The week before the vote: robinblackstone.com/voteyourhealth Get each piece by email: robinblackstone.substack.com

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