“Will Work For Health Care:” Americans Trading Off Wages For Healthcare (Again)
Many people living in America who receive health benefits at the workplace traded off wage growth for health insurance coverage, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published this week. For those of us working in the health economics and policy space since the 1990s, the Fed team gave me a strong sense of déjà vu. The bar graph cited in the report explains the math behind the wage/health plan trade-off. “Among those businesses experiencing an increase in employee health insurance costs, the average wage increase over
Dr. Wachter Bets on A Giant Leap for AI in Health Care
“Stop worrying and let AI help save your life,” a New York Times op-ed prescribed in January. So I wanted to ask Dr. Robert Wachter, author of that essay, “why not worry?” and read his latest book, A Giant Leap, before speaking with him. I spent time with Bob on a Zoom session last week to dig into some patient/consumer-facing issues regarding AI and health care. Before I launch into our engaging conversation, I’d like to share some context about Dr. Wachter and his evolution that I believe makes him
Financial Stress and Trust in Health Care Takes Many Forms – Listening to Jarrard’s 2026 State of Play Survey
Most people in the U.S. are concerned about many cost-related aspects of health care, we learn from Jarrard’s 2026 survey report on Americans’ health care financial angst titled Navigating the Riptide: Public views on healthcare, health policy, and healthcare organizations. Jarrard fielded the consumer study among 1,049 U.S. adults 18 years of age and older in early January 2026. Here are the details, listing nine cost-related issues U.S. consumers face in their health care journeys – including, Difficulty paying medical bills (net 59% very or somewhat concerned) Delaying medical care due to cost (55%) Inability
The Healthcare Affordability Elections, 2026 and 2028 – Listening to the KFF Tracking Poll, January 2026
The title of KFF’s press release launching the Foundation’s January 2026 Health Tracking Poll clearly observes, “Health Care Costs Tops the Public’s Economic Worries as the Runup to the Midterms Begins.” I’ve pulled out the key details to share my lens on the 2026 midterm and 2028 Presidential election forecast, which I believe will turn out to be (in part) The Patients’ Elections. Here’s the top-line title finding — where most people in the U.S. — 2 in 3 people (66%) — are worried more about health care costs compared with other major household expenses.
As Adult Vaccination Levels Fall, We Must Assert the Value of Vaccines
The rate of vaccinations among people 65 years of age and older has declined since 2019 — a personal health challenge for aging Americans and their caregivers and families, and a public health problem for the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics published Data Brief 547 on the situation on January 21, 2026. In the meantime, serendipity and timing are uncanny in the moment as The Value of Vaccines conversation series from Pfizer was launched this week. I am grateful to have participated in this project with several sisters-in-expertise: Elif Alyanak from Avalere, Venesa Day
Distrust is the default, insularity is our mindset: The Edelman Trust Barometer in 2026
ss Last year’s “shared reality” was a culture of trust and a crisis of grievance: this year, it’s trust and insularity, we learn from the Edelman Trust Barometer for 2026, launched this week during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Here are the Top 10 findings from the annual study, which Edelman conducted among nearly 34,000 citizens in 28 countries in October and November 2025: Insularity undermines trust The mass class divide deepens Nationalism is widespread Optimism for the future wanes Personal networks fill a void left by
In the U.S., Belief and Trust in Science and Scientists is Tied to Political Party and Education
Most Americans believe it’s very important for the nation to lead in scientific achievements. But twice as many Democrats as Republications, 65% versus 32%, say the U.S. is losing ground in science innovations. The Pew Research Center asks and answers the Do Americans Think the Country Is Losing or Gaining Ground in Science? And the answer is, “millions of people do think so.” The Pew team polled 5,111 U.S. adults in late October 2025 for this research. There are a few political chasms related to science-trust in the U.S. that are important
While Nurses Continue to Rank Top in Honesty and Ethics, Americans’ Respect for All Professions is Tanking
While nurses continue to rank high for honesty and ethics, Americans’ trust in the nations’ professions is tanking, found in this year’s Gallup Poll update titled, Nurses Continue to Lead in Honesty and Ethics Ratings. Nurses perennially top this chart, usually followed by doctors and pharmacists. But this year, it’s military veterans who garner the second spot in the Gallup Poll, with doctors and pharmacists in positions 3 and 4. Ranking at the bottom as least-respected for honesty and ethics are Members of Congress, again garnering the low-point in this study, with telemarketers trailing the
Exercise is Health Care, and Consumers Are Willing to Pay – Context for #CES2026
“Americans are not just setting fitness goals; they are budgeting for them,” Liz Clark, President and CEO of the Health & Fitness Association observed. “People increasingly see exercise as an essential investment in their long-term health. Even in a challenging economic environment, Americans are prioritizing physical activity as a proactive form of preventive healthcare.” Americans see exercise as healthcare — and health — according to a survey from the Health & Fitness Association (HFA). HFA commissioned Kantar to conduct the online survey among 2,000 U.S. adults 18 and over in December 2025 — well-timed for the
Navigating a Constellation of Uncertainties: Health/Care in 2026 (My Un-Forecast)
Almost from the first year of launching Health Populi in 2007, I’ve written a “TrendCast” for the coming year of health care. Over many years, there weren’t so many blogs devoted to health care which featured such prognostications, and so readers could divine signal from noise and move forward into new years with manageable lists of What To Expect Next Year in Healthcare. Here’s one from ten years ago that brings a sense of déjà vu: most of the findings are consistent with what we know for sure about 2026 and it’s useful to look back with today’s eyes to
A Month Until #CES2026 – The Journey to Our Personal Health Operating Systems
In a month, I’ll board a plane for Las Vegas to spend a week at CES 2026, the annual electronics conference that last year brought together over 140,000 global technology stakeholders to display, demonstrate, and sell the latest in consumer-facing tech. This will be my fourteenth CES (including the virtually convened meeting held in 2021). If you want to time travel, here’s a link to an early CES post featuring “The Battle of the (Wrist)bands.” Indeed, the digital health aisle at the time had many wrist-worn activity trackers, largely amped-up pedometers, with the likes
As SNAP Benefits Were Threatened to be Cut in the U.S., Eli Lilly’s Obesity Drugs Rose to the World’s Best-Selling Drug
Today, 1 November, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was to be shuttered and unfunded in at least 25 states until the U.S. Congress agreed to re-open the Federal government and fund this safety net for food security that covers 42 million people in America. Those 42 million people included 16 million children, about 39% of SNAP program beneficiaries. Then last night, a Federal judge intervened to order President Trump’s administration to reinstate funding for food assistance just-in-time. At this moment, I cannot tell you what the exact timing nor the amounts beneficiaries will receive will be.
A Chasm Between U.S. Health Citizens: Is Vaccination a Personal Choice, or for the Benefit of All?
One of the only uniting factors in U.S. health care across political parties is that most of the nation’s health citizens, cross-party ID, trust doctors and their professional associations for reliable information on vaccines. Pediatricians in particular are mostly-trusted for vaccine facts, according to the KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust: Tylenol-Autism Link and Vaccine Policies, the latest in the Kaiser Family Foundation’s series on Health Information and Trust Tracking Polls. The biggest trust-chasm when it comes to sources for vaccine information is Americans’ split views on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary
Thank you Aaron Strout for hosting our conversation on the Reaching Higher Podcast, now live on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. We covered a lot of ground addressing health care and health citizenship, the growing prospects for our homes as our health hubs, and how our humanity is a key ingredient in health-making for all.
Jane joined host Dr. Geeta "Dr. G" Nayyar and colleagues to brainstorm the value of vaccines for public and individual health in this challenging environment for health literacy, health politics, and health citizen grievance. Click onto the Pfizer Value of Vaccines site and you can watch four episodes covering the challenges with adult vaccination, the employer and health plan member's journey to vaccination, reimbursement, and collaborating for proactive prevention.
I'm grateful to be part of the Duke Corporate Education faculty, sharing perspectives on the future of health care with health and life science companies. Once again, I'll be brainstorming the future of health care with a cohort of executives working in a global pharmaceutical company.