The Cost of Confusion with U.S. Healthcare – a deja vu of The Temptations’ “Ball of Confusion”
A new survey from RevSpring, a healthcare payments company, measures consumers’ feelings of friction with healthcare in America — where people feel frustration “at every level,” the topline reads. The title of the paper, The Cost of Confusion: How Friction Shapes the Healthcare Experience, reminded me of one of my favorite songs from Motown growing up, “Ball of Confusion.” This Temptations hit was written by the great Motown songwriters, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong (who interestingly and to the point of this post, recorded the first hit single for Motown, the fabulous song “Money [That’s What I Want],” in 1960).
Gas ‘n Healthcare ‘n Groceries: U.S. Voters’ Cost-of-Living Concerns Will Inspire Them to Vote in the Midterms in the Latest KFF Health Tracking Poll
The cost of health care will have a major impact on U.S. voters’ midterm voting decisions in November 2026, most Americans expressed in the April 2026 KFF Health Tracking poll. Kaiser Family Foundation surveyed 1,343 U.S. adults in April 2026 to assess peoples’ views on health care costs and their influence on voting behavior forward-looking to the midterm elections to be held on 3rd November 2026. The first chart quantifies that overall 55% of U.S. voters say health care costs will have a “major impact,” and another 33% say health costs will
Most Brands Speak to Women As If They Are Men: Learning from Hidden Women, Health Marketing Insights from 8th Day
Are women “seen?” And how do they see themselves compared with how companies see them — marketers, leaders, and any enterprise that’s trying to message and persuade women to calls-to-action? If you are working to inspire, influence, or engage that portion of the world’s population who are women, then a new study from 8th-Day brand consultancy can inform your strategies. It’s titled Hidden Women: Unlocking brand growth by seeing the unseen, and it’s chock full of insights and lightbulb moments from which you can benefit. In full and delightful disclosure, the 8th-Day team are
Doctors and Consumers in America Agree: Health Care Access and Affordability Rank Top of Mind in March 2026 (surveys from Athenahealth and Gallup)
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
The “Five-Month” Cognitive Penalty of Financial Decline: A Significant Loss of Financial Well-Being Correlates with About Five Months of Cognitive Decline A Year
Lower financial well-being and worsening financial conditions have been linked to declining brain function, according to new research from a team at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. The research, Changes in financial well-being and memory function and decline in middle-aged and older adults, was published this month in the American Journal of Epidemiology. “Worse financial well-being in midlife and older age — and especially declines over time — are associated with lower memory scores and faster cognitive decline,” the study notes — among the first to scrutinize the relationship between brain
“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
Health Care Ads at the Big Game (Super Bowl LX) – Edgy, Entertaining, Educational
“When Weight Watchers dared to run an ad in 2015, it was likened to a record scratch,” AdAge noted in its preview of ads planned for broadcasting during Super Bowl LX. A decade+ later, healthcare and health-related promotions are part of the Big Game’s financial lifeblood, where a 30-second spot can cost $8 million according to AdMeter And on the aesthetics/design front, some of the ads this year are downright edgy — entertainment-intended, but also educational in their own way. Take “Rich People Live Longer,” this year’s ad from Hims & Hers Health. The company advertised at last year’s game
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.
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.
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.
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.