Jess McAllen
@jessmcallen.bsky.social
Staff writer & fact checker at @thebaffler.com
Reporting on healthcare, especially mental health, chronic illness, and care inequalities
I'm from New Zealand but am in New York.
Reporting on healthcare, especially mental health, chronic illness, and care inequalities
I'm from New Zealand but am in New York.
Reposted by Jess McAllen
We're launching a new newsletter, Good Medicine, on a simple premise: These are chaotic times, with so much distrust and confusion around our health and our health care system.
So our goal is to help all of us navigate through the cacophony, together:
www.vox.com/pages/good-m...
So our goal is to help all of us navigate through the cacophony, together:
www.vox.com/pages/good-m...
Sign up for the Good Medicine newsletter | Vox
Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. In text, video and audio, our reporters expl...
www.vox.com
January 5, 2026 at 3:21 PM
We're launching a new newsletter, Good Medicine, on a simple premise: These are chaotic times, with so much distrust and confusion around our health and our health care system.
So our goal is to help all of us navigate through the cacophony, together:
www.vox.com/pages/good-m...
So our goal is to help all of us navigate through the cacophony, together:
www.vox.com/pages/good-m...
A moustache is like eyeliner for the lip
January 3, 2026 at 8:15 PM
A moustache is like eyeliner for the lip
Sometimes I feel like I could write a whole novel about the social and political implications of the heart react
January 2, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Sometimes I feel like I could write a whole novel about the social and political implications of the heart react
sorry if this is an obvi question but does the manage my health nz data breach mean that our passwords are also compromised?
January 1, 2026 at 11:04 PM
sorry if this is an obvi question but does the manage my health nz data breach mean that our passwords are also compromised?
Gimme gimme gimme a mayor after midnight
December 31, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Gimme gimme gimme a mayor after midnight
They did surgery on a grape voice: they put an egg on my pizza
December 29, 2025 at 4:11 AM
They did surgery on a grape voice: they put an egg on my pizza
Reposted by Jess McAllen
if vaccines were free and widely available, if people got paid time off to get them, if testing was free and widely available, if masks were free and widely available… this has always been about layered protection, and masks are just one layer left that people can see from the outside
December 27, 2025 at 9:06 PM
if vaccines were free and widely available, if people got paid time off to get them, if testing was free and widely available, if masks were free and widely available… this has always been about layered protection, and masks are just one layer left that people can see from the outside
Trifle - the thinking man's lasagne
December 26, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Trifle - the thinking man's lasagne
i can't believe paddington did NOT go to new zealand
December 26, 2025 at 4:10 AM
i can't believe paddington did NOT go to new zealand
Sometimes I think pistachios are too expensive but then I eat a pistachio and have to respect that she knows her worth
December 22, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Sometimes I think pistachios are too expensive but then I eat a pistachio and have to respect that she knows her worth
i've been in a cute upstate town this week and every time i make prolonged eye contact w a fellow early thirties person i feel like we are cosplaying small home town return for xmas movie except this is not my hometown and i am not open to love
December 17, 2025 at 10:44 PM
i've been in a cute upstate town this week and every time i make prolonged eye contact w a fellow early thirties person i feel like we are cosplaying small home town return for xmas movie except this is not my hometown and i am not open to love
can someone create an extension like adblocker but for AI??
December 16, 2025 at 9:22 PM
can someone create an extension like adblocker but for AI??
"I want the way I was born to be treated with as much dignity as my body after an accident."
Being disabled is not linear, not clear-cut, and not without many things to unlearn - I've always been careful about how I exist as both a disabled person and as someone who has a platform. At times, it's meant people have criticised me for not talking about my own experiences.
So here they are.
So here they are.
Moral Injury: A Crash Course
Navigating our public health system in search of dignity, care, and humanity
open.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 2:24 AM
"I want the way I was born to be treated with as much dignity as my body after an accident."
$59 is so evil
Over the last decade, a community health center in Virginia filed more than 7,000 lawsuits for unpaid bills.
It sued one couple for $59 last January, an amount that ballooned more than 600% within months due to interest, court costs and lawyer fees.
It sued one couple for $59 last January, an amount that ballooned more than 600% within months due to interest, court costs and lawyer fees.
These Health Centers Are Supposed to Make Care Affordable. One Has Sued Patients for as Little as $59 in Unpaid Bills.
Federally funded community health centers receive grants in exchange for serving patients regardless of their ability to pay. But ProPublica found at least five across the country garnishing patients’...
www.propublica.org
December 11, 2025 at 1:00 AM
$59 is so evil
writers being sad about AI using em-dashes meanwhile real BRACKET HEADS sitting smugly (as ever)
December 10, 2025 at 10:30 PM
writers being sad about AI using em-dashes meanwhile real BRACKET HEADS sitting smugly (as ever)
Reposted by Jess McAllen
It's not just about leave but about what we are producing when we are working, says Toss Grumley.
December 3, 2025 at 10:04 PM
It's not just about leave but about what we are producing when we are working, says Toss Grumley.
it's my first day back at work post-surgery and my close friend and furthermore 2-door-down neighbor dropped off some banana bread to mark the occash
December 4, 2025 at 7:57 PM
it's my first day back at work post-surgery and my close friend and furthermore 2-door-down neighbor dropped off some banana bread to mark the occash
Reposted by Jess McAllen
After a college student finally found a treatment that worked for his ulcerative colitis, UnitedHealthcare decided it wouldn’t pay for the costly drugs.
His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for rejecting claims.
(Published Feb. 2023)
His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for rejecting claims.
(Published Feb. 2023)
UnitedHealthcare Tried to Deny Coverage to a Chronically Ill Patient. He Fought Back, Exposing the Insurer’s Inner Workings.
After a college student finally found a treatment that worked, the insurance giant decided it wouldn’t pay for the costly drugs. His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for r...
www.propublica.org
December 1, 2025 at 2:00 AM
After a college student finally found a treatment that worked for his ulcerative colitis, UnitedHealthcare decided it wouldn’t pay for the costly drugs.
His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for rejecting claims.
(Published Feb. 2023)
His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for rejecting claims.
(Published Feb. 2023)
In just over two weeks I can lift weights again. I've never lifted weights but it's nice to know it's an option.
December 1, 2025 at 1:50 AM
In just over two weeks I can lift weights again. I've never lifted weights but it's nice to know it's an option.
The police not releasing images of the gift gun to AP in case it damages US/NZ relations is making me ol imagination run wild
apnews.com/article/kash...
apnews.com/article/kash...
3D-printed guns FBI boss Kash Patel gifted to New Zealand officials were toy-inspired
Inoperable pistols gifted by FBI Director Kash Patel to senior New Zealand security officials were revolvers inspired by toy Nerf guns and popular among 3D-printed weapons hobbyists.
apnews.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:03 PM
The police not releasing images of the gift gun to AP in case it damages US/NZ relations is making me ol imagination run wild
apnews.com/article/kash...
apnews.com/article/kash...
i bought a spinach type smoothie coz i was feeling soo tired and when i went to put it on the table i totally missed so i think we all (me, the floor) learned a lesson about pushing thru surgery fatigue
November 23, 2025 at 3:27 AM
i bought a spinach type smoothie coz i was feeling soo tired and when i went to put it on the table i totally missed so i think we all (me, the floor) learned a lesson about pushing thru surgery fatigue
evidence-based as a concept has been well and truly bungled, it was a nice idea though
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
November 20, 2025 at 3:00 AM
evidence-based as a concept has been well and truly bungled, it was a nice idea though
One day I'd like to live in a little cottage in a sea town and have a cat and a garden and my health
November 19, 2025 at 8:03 PM
One day I'd like to live in a little cottage in a sea town and have a cat and a garden and my health
"What does it mean to love someone who has, or has had, a parasitic worm in their brain?"
People often ask me when I'm going to write a book.
For years, the answer I have given is: "When I find a story consequential enough and gripping enough that it warrants a book-length treatment."
Well.
hellgatenyc.com/the-only-oli...
For years, the answer I have given is: "When I find a story consequential enough and gripping enough that it warrants a book-length treatment."
Well.
hellgatenyc.com/the-only-oli...
The Only Olivia Nuzzi-RFK Jr. Take You Need to Read
Your group chat isn’t talking about this part of it—but they should be.
hellgatenyc.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:34 AM
"What does it mean to love someone who has, or has had, a parasitic worm in their brain?"
I've been watching midsomer murders and so far they have interesting food and lots of murdered
November 19, 2025 at 2:48 AM
I've been watching midsomer murders and so far they have interesting food and lots of murdered