Harvey is no longer classified as a hurricane, but the destruction caused by the storm continues to unfold. In the last 72 hours, parts of Houston, Texas have been hit with as many as 30 inches of rain. Nearby cities and towns have been overwhelmed by floodwaters, as swollen lakes and rivers have spilled into surrounding communities. At least five people have died because of Harvey — that figure is expected to rise — and officials say that over 30,000 people may need to be housed in temporary shelters. The National Weather Service has emphasized the unprecedented nature of the storm, tweeting that it is “beyond anything experienced.”

The national turmoil we are witnessing is not just a crisis of institutions, or politics, or a society at a crossroads. It is also a crisis of health.

Hate, such as the kind we witnessed in Charlottesville, Virginia, is like a disease, spreading among populations, undermining health in a manner eerily similar to that of a pathogen. When a society is infected by hate, it is not hard to see how it can affect our bodies and minds.

The national turmoil we are witnessing is not just a crisis of institutions or politics or a society at a crossroads. It is also a crisis of health. Hate such as the kind we witnessed in Charlottesville is like a disease, spreading among populations and undermining health in a manner eerily similar to that of a pathogen. When a society is infected by hate, it is not hard to see how it can affect our bodies and minds. Being hated is stressful. It makes a person fear for her safety, resent her lack of respect, and worry about what the future holds for herself and her family. People who feel hated are more likely to experience major depression, and the fruits of hate — prejudice, discrimination, segregation, and interpersonal antagonism — sicken and kill Americans every day.

Ironically, as congressional Republicans have been trying to replace the Affordable Care Act, the ACA’s popularity is at an all-time high, and the majority of Americans now believe that it is the federal government’s responsibility to provide health care for all Americans. This shift in sentiment suggests that a single-payer system — a “Medicare for all” — may soon be a politically viable solution to America’s health care woes.

During the past 25 years, the life expectancy of the richest quintile of 50-year-old Americans has increased, a perhaps unsurprising development. However, this improvement has not been shared by all. The life expectancy of the middle 60 percent of Americans has seen little change, and the life expectancy of the poorest 20 percent of Americans has, during this time, actually decreased.

The United States spends more on health than any other economically comparable country, yet sees a consistently mediocre return on this investment. In my last piece, I argued that this is because the U.S. invests overwhelmingly in medicine and curative care, at the expense of the social, economic, and environmental determinants of health—factors like quality education and housing, air and water safety, and nutritious food. A deeper investment in contextual factors like these can help create healthy societies and prevent disease before it occurs.

Last month, the Congressional Budget Office released its evaluation of the House of Representative’s American Health Care Act. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the AHCA would, if it becomes law, leave 23 million more Americans uninsured by the end of the decade. While the Senate’s newly unveiled bill will receive similar scrutiny in the coming days, much has rightly been made of this figure and the consequences of so many losing vital coverage. Proponents have framed the legislation as a chance for Americans to take personal responsibility for their health, while opponents have decried its potential to sicken and kill many of our most vulnerable citizens. These concerns are valid. The bill stands to do great harm.