Raising Health Healthcare 2026: AI Doctors, GLP-1s, and Insurance Defection
5 snips
Jan 27, 2026 
Nikhil Krishnan, founder of Out of Pocket who helps people navigate healthcare costs, joins to predict healthcare in 2026. He discusses why people are dropping traditional insurance and paying cash for diagnostics and preventive care. He explores AI-driven navigation and low-cost care models, the rise of at-home screening and GLP-1 expansion, plus regulation and data issues shaping access and innovation.
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Healthcare Moving Beyond Insurance
- U.S. healthcare is shifting from insurance-centered to consumer-directed cash pay and proactive care.
- AI, diagnostics, and memberships are filling gaps as consumers pay out of pocket for speed, clarity, and control.
The Rational Case To Drop Coverage
- Rising premiums and high deductibles make many healthy people rationally choose to go uninsured and self-insure against routine costs.
- That math drives the uninsured spike and creates demand for alternative cash-pay models and navigation tools.
Defection Splinters Risk Pools
- Defection risks fracturing risk pools and driving consolidation among insurers while creating a parallel market of cash-pay premium services.
- The tradeoff is consumer agency and better experience versus increased uncompensated care and access gaps.