Doctors and Consumers in America Agree: Health Care Access and Affordability Rank Top of Mind in March 2026 (surveys from Athenahealth and Gallup)
By Jane Sarasohn-Kahn on 2 April 2026 in Accessibility, Affordability, AI, AI and health, Anxiety, Consumer experience, Consumer-directed health, Doctors, Empathy, Financial health, Financial toxicity, Financial wellness, Health access, Health and wealth, Health at home, Health citizenship, Health Consumers, Health costs, Health Economics, Health ecosystem, Health engagement, Health equity, Health policy, Healthcare access, Home economics, Jobs and health, Medical bills, Medical debt, medical home, Money and health, Out of pocket costs, Participatory health, Patient engagement, Patient experience, Personal health finance, Physicians, Politics and health, Popular culture and health, Primary care, Public health, Trust
In uncannily-timed releases of two surveys in March 2026, we see that U.S. physicians and consumers both rank health care access and affordability as the top issue they face — for medical practices among doctors, and for everyday life worries among U.S. health citizens. On the physician front, The 2026 Physician Sentiment Survey was published by Athenahealth, gauging U.S. doctors’ views on the state of medical practice and healthcare in America. “Over the past three years,” Athenahealth observes, “access to affordable healthcare has risen sharply to become
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.