Access to air conditioning is critical preventive care. But federal policy treats it as optional

A billboard displays an unofficial temperature in downtown Phoenix in 2023. Extreme heat can turn life-threatening for people with diabetes when reliable cooling becomes impossible.Matt York/AP

By Charles E. Leonard and Anthony Nicome

May 13, 2026

Leonard is a senior fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and an epidemiologist. Nicome is an adviser of the National Academy of Medicine Climate Communities Network and a public health strategist.

During the first heat wave of 2025, 55-year-old Shauna Thomas was found dead in her suburban St. Louis apartment after spending at least three days without air conditioning or water. Police said she had “several medical issues” that may have contributed.

Access to air conditioning is critical preventive care. But federal policy treats it as optional

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