High cost of health care was a missed communications opportunity in the 2024 election

An election 2024 post-mortum has tried to succintly conceptualize how the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was unable to convince enough voters to elect Vice-President Kamala Harris, in spite of her excellent qualifications for the postion of President of the United States. Nevertheless, among the legitimate criticizisms about the campaign communications stratey is the subject of health care costs, This important issue was almost ignored by Democrats and Republicans, even though the issue impacts on all people regardless of socio-economic status and is now a significant sector of the  economy. 

This echo opion is published on the Becker's Hospital Review:

When will healthcare be treated as the economic issue it is?

The 2024, election failed to position healthcare as central to the economy despite representing nearly a fifth of the U.S. GDP. Voters were inundated with debates over the costs of essentials like gas and food while healthcare remained on the sidelines, with neither Democrats nor Republicans making the meaningful connection between healthcare and the financial wellbeing of everyday Americans. (Voters outright said healthcare should have received more attention in the campaign.)

The result? A missed opportunity to mobilize voters around the most urgent economic issue of our time.

It's appalling that it took the assassination of a healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, to spark broader conversations about the broken system. Instead of outrage or reflection, many Americans responded with chilling cynicism and by indulging in dark corners of faceless online commentary. Digital noise and performative outrage grew louder and continued to overshadow any sort of substantive healthcare discussion.

Meanwhile, the stakes are high and growing. Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is projected to be depleted by 2036 — just 11 years from now. Meanwhile, Medicare Advantage enrollment has soared, covering 54% of beneficiaries in 2024, despite glaring issues like prior authorization delays and slow payments that lawmakers themselves have flagged.

2025 offers a chance to reset the conversation. Will any voices finally emerge to frame healthcare as an economic concern directly tied to household budgets and the nation's financial sustainability? Will leaders have the courage to address meaningful changes to Medicare, moving beyond token measures like 2.8% payment cuts — the equivalent of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic? Can voters, policymakers and corporate leaders rise to the occasion and prioritize real solutions, or will sound bites and superficial debates continue to create an illusion of progress?