Get Your BOO On! Submit Your Scariest Halloween Health Care Haikus

Boo! We scared you. Now it’s your turn to give our newsroom a scare. Submissions are now open for KFF Health News’ sixth annual Halloween haiku competition. KFF Health News has been publishing reader-submitted health care haikus for years and is on pins and needles to read how this spooky season inspires you. We want your best scary health care or health policy haiku. We’ll share favorites on our social media channels, and members of our staff will pick the winners, announced on Thursday, Oct. 31.

Rules:

• Submit your haiku to https://kffhealthnews.org/contact-haiku/ with the link to the related KFF Health News article.
• “Like” KFF Health News and California Healthline on Facebook, and follow @KFFHealthNews on the social platforms X, Instagram, and TikTok.
• (Optional) Include your X or Instagram handle in the submission and let us know if it’s OK to give you a shout-out on social media.
• Submit your haiku by 5 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 18.
• To win, the haiku should meet the following criteria:
  • Follow the format of a haiku (a three-line poem with 17 syllables, written in a 5/7/5-syllable count).
  • Contain information related to health care and/or health policy that follows the scary/Halloween theme.
  • Reference a KFF Health News story in the haiku — as a bonus.

Prizes:

The top three haikus will be announced with a custom comic illustration drawn by staff illustrator Oona Zenda and featured in the KFF Health News Morning Briefing. Chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner will read the grand-prize winner on KFF Health News’ “What the Health?” podcast on Oct. 31, and we will give you a shout-out ― or hair-raising scream ― on our social media pages, with the hashtag #HealthCareScare.