Rubi Rodriguez, Prosser Career Academy, Junior, Fall 2025 In Chicago’s South and West neighborhoods, illness doesn’t often begin with symptoms, but with hesitation. Even before a clinic is called, families face a rush of questions: “Can we afford this? Will this appointment change anything? The weight of these unanswered questions lingers heavily across homes where healthcare has long felt distant. For many families of color, these hesitations are rooted in realities of their

Expensive medications aren’t new to anyone. But what causes them to be so expensive? The process we use to place new medications on the...