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?

Heinous fatal gun violence at the doors of University of Alabama Birmingham trauma center

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama- "...Birmingham’s 90th and 91st homicide victims this year. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 127 homicides including the 91 in Birmingham."

Reported in AL.com and Becker's Hospital Review:

Gunfire erupted outside UAB (University of Alabama Birmingham) Hospital early Monday September 4, 2023, as multiple gunshot victims arrived in a private vehicle seeking help.

According to authorities and witnesses, a champagne-colored Chevrolet Tahoe pulled up to the hospital entrance seeking help for gunshot victims inside. That shooting is believed to have taken place following an altercation at Aria Restaurant and Lounge on in the 900 block of Fifth Avenue North.

When the SUV got to UAB – about 2:17 a.m. – another vehicle pulled up and opened fire on the Tahoe. Witnesses said they heard multiple shots fired, describing the sounds as “iron pipes hitting.”

The gunfire hit a UAB police vehicle and a hospital window.

Birmingham and UAB police officers shut down the area surrounding the emergency room. The hospital was placed on lockdown.

UAB officials referred all additional questions to Birmingham police.

Birmingham police Officer Truman Fitzgerald at least five people were shot in the initial incident on Fifth Avenue North.

Two of those victims - both females - were pronounced dead at the hospital.

According the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office, a 33-year-old woman was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m. and 24-year-old woman was pronounced dead at 2:55 a.m.

Fitzgerald said the two women - who later died - and an injured man were in the SUV that showed up at UAB. The man’s injuries are life-threatening.

Two other women showed up at the hospital by private vehicle, also with gunshot wounds. Their injuries are not life-threatening.

Police said at least two suspects fired on the victims when they arrived at the hospital. They have not been arrested.

“We believe this incident was a targeted attack, however we do believe many of the victims were innocent bystanders,’' Fitzgerald said.

Dozens of friends and family members were outside of the emergency room. They, too, said they’d been unable to get information about what happened.

About 5:30 a.m., family members of one of the victims - a female - became visibly distraught when they were told their loved one had died.

The two slain females are Birmingham’s 90th and 91st homicide victims this year. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 127 homicides including the 91 in Birmingham.

Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.