Oregon Health Authority

Pertussis, or whooping cough, is on the rise throughout Washington state, Oregon and Idaho this year.

As the coronavirus pandemic drags on, it's now increasingly apparent that 2020 will be remembered for an unusually high death toll -- not just from COVID-19. In the medical field, deaths above what you would normally expect are called "excess deaths."

Some psychiatric patients are spending not just hours in the emergency room, but days or a week. They're living there in the ER because there is nowhere else to send them. Northwest policymakers are now making it a priority to create more treatment capacity for people in mental health and addiction crises.

Washington and Oregon are making contingency plans in case Congress doesn’t reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which is for low-income…