New United States of Care Analysis Highlights Key Health Care Issues for the Year Ahead

Washington, DC — Today, United States of Care (USofCare) named its predictions for the top issues that will shape health care experiences, conversations, and policy discussions in the year ahead. Informed by insights from CEO and Co-Founder Natalie Davis and the organization’s experts, USofCare’s analysis reflects thousands of conversations with people across all 50 states about their health care. Together, these insights point to affordability as a defining concern—alongside a growing sense that challenges across the health care system are escalating faster than solutions.

“Across the country, people are telling us the same thing: health care feels more expensive, harder to navigate, and increasingly out of reach,” said Natalie Davis, CEO and co-founder of USofCare. “Looking ahead, affordability will remain the top issue this year shaping how Americans experience the health care system and whether people believe it’s improving. We will keep seeing a shift towards mistrust and mounting anger at a system that does not meet people’s needs and leaders who fail to make a change.” 

USofCare’s Key Health Care Predictions for 2026: 

• Affordability pressures will continue to dominate health care conversations
  Rising costs are expected to remain the most immediate and visible challenge for people navigating the health care system. More Americans are likely to delay or forgo care, drop coverage, or make difficult financial tradeoffs as high health care expenses compete with other household needs. As a result, mounting medical debt is also expected to be a growing concern.
• Public sentiment and trust in the health care system is likely to continue declining
  While many Americans continue to trust their individual doctors and nurses, rising costs, administrative complexity, and uneven access to care are likely to deepen mistrust in the health care system itself. As a result, overall confidence in the health care system is expected to erode further as mistrust morphs into growing anger at the system and the policymakers who fail to act. 
• Public expectations around health care affordability will shape political debates
  Heading into the 2026 election cycle, health care affordability is expected to be a defining issue in how Americans assess candidates and policy proposals. Leaders who fail to address affordability directly will face backlash. Voters across the political spectrum are likely to gravitate towards approaches that offer credible paths to reducing cost-related barriers to care, and the future of the ACA’s enhanced tax credits will be front and center in the new year. 
• Industry adoption of AI will accelerate while public trust remains fragile
  As AI becomes more visible in health care, patients will demand transparency about when and how these tools are being used. The AI applications that gain traction will be those that help patients navigate complexity—simplifying billing, explaining coverage, comparing costs, and making the system more understandable. Meanwhile, AI tools perceived as adding barriers or replacing human judgment without consent will risk becoming flashpoints for the mistrust already building in the system. Success will depend on whether AI is deployed to empower patients or to serve institutional efficiency.
• States will remain on the frontlines of health care policy
  With ongoing gridlock and budget pressures at the federal level combined with the rapidly approaching deadlines to implement the major policy changes in H.R. 1, states will play an increasingly central role in shaping health care access and affordability. From coverage policies to pharmacy benefit manager reforms, decisions made at the state level will likely have an outsized impact on how people experience care in their everyday lives in 2026.
• Challenges in the caregiving workforce will affect access and availability of care
  Shifts in the caregiving workforce, including shortages and burnout, are expected to impact patients’ ability to receive timely and consistent services. These pressures will be felt across care settings, from hospitals and clinics to home-based care.
• The “Make America Healthy Again” movement will continue to evolve 
  As the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement takes a broader approach to health care reform, the agenda is expected to evolve and diversify in 2026. This shift in goals may cause some supporters to move away, which will reshape the movement’s influence on health care conversations and coalitions. We will see certain elements go mainstream while others fade away.

USofCare will continue to track these trends, elevate the experiences of people navigating the health care system, push for policy solutions that meet the urgency of this moment, and inform conversations about how health care can better meet people’s needs in 2026 and beyond.

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