Leading the Next Era of Health | Future of Health Summit 2025

Summit Context and Theme

• The 2025 Future of Health Summit, held in Washington, was hosted by the Milken Institute under the theme "In Service of Better Health."
• The event featured over 200 speakers across 60 sessions, with a focus on bridging gaps between academia, industry, policy, and patient advocacy.

Critical Health Statistics and Systemic Challenges

• U.S. health spending rose 7% between 2022 and 2023 and is projected to increase an additional 4.2% in 2025.
• In 2023, U.S. life expectancy returned to pre-pandemic levels but still lags approximately four years behind peer countries.
• 7.2 million Americans currently live with Alzheimer's disease.
• 300 million people worldwide suffer from rare diseases, facing a market failure in drug development and high financial/emotional costs.
• Approximately 1 million deaths globally occur annually due to antimicrobial resistance.
• 63 million U.S. family caregivers, including 5.4 million children under 18, face significant strain without adequate support.
• Mental health conditions are projected to cost the global economy $6 trillion by 2030.
• Women face systemic disparities, including misdiagnosis and understudied conditions, resulting in an average of nine years spent in poor health.
• Gallup data indicates a 10-percentage-point drop in the number of Americans reporting high-quality healthcare access in recent years.
• The "cost desperate" population (those unable to afford care or medicine) grew from 8% to 11% from 2021 to 2024, equating to 29 million Americans.
• Obesity rates in the U.S. have declined for the first time in tracking history, driven entirely by the adoption of GLP-1 weight loss injectables rather than behavioral changes.
• The use of weight loss injectables in the U.S. has more than doubled in a short period across both men and women.
• Despite 73% of Americans believing employers should provide quality healthcare, only 29% feel employers currently deliver on this expectation.
• Americans express significant concern regarding the integration of AI into medical diagnosis and front-line care.

Strategic Initiatives and Policy Decisions

• The Milken Institute released nine new publications, including a key report on the future of U.S. biomedical research offering six recommendations to maintain U.N. competitiveness.
• The Milken Institute Women's Health Network was launched in May, chaired by Dr. Jill Biden, to increase private sector funding; it now includes 111 member organizations.
• Centene, the largest Medicaid managed care organization and ACA carrier, supports over 12 million Americans with a focus on lower-income, medically complex populations.
• Jefferson Health launched a program using AI ambient technology to conduct 11,000 visits weekly, aiming to reduce physician documentation time ("pajama time") and improve patient satisfaction.
• The American Cancer Society announced a new mobilization effort to fund food purchases for cancer patients facing economic hardship, addressing the choice between care and nutrition.
• The Milken Institute and West Health Organization are collaborating to release state-level data on healthcare access, quality, and costs on November 18.
• Centene is utilizing data from "Food as Medicine" investments to demonstrate improved health outcomes and medication adherence, justifying upfront wellness spending.
• Jefferson Health has committed to returning 10 million hours to patient care over three years by reducing administrative burdens on clinicians.

Forward-Looking Statements and Opinions

• On AI Implementation: Experts argue AI will not solve systemic issues if overlaid on dysfunctional workflows; success requires "upskilling" workers and reimagining processes to return humans to high-value tasks (e.g., patient care vs. charting).
• On Workforce Transformation: There is a strategic shift toward empowering community health workers and non-traditional providers (e.g., doulas) to reduce reliance on high-cost clinical services for preventive care.
• On Affordability: New therapies, such as a $2 million sickle cell cure, necessitate new financing models that balance short-term payer impacts with long-term systemic savings and patient access.
• On Public Trust: Industry leaders emphasize that while macro-level trust in the healthcare system is low, micro-level trust between patients and clinicians remains high and must be leveraged to combat misinformation and "apoco-optimism."
• On Rural Health: There is a recognition that rural cancer patients are 30–70% less likely to survive compared to those treated at NCI-designated centers, driving a push for collaborative rural health solutions.
• On Consumer Empowerment: A "democratized health system" is envisioned where data and AI empower patients with agency, shifting from a reactive "sick system" to a proactive health model.
• On Employment Trends: Leaders predict AI will not eliminate jobs but will reshape them, requiring a cultural shift where "smart humans" use technology as an "Iron Man suit" to increase productivity rather than replacing staff.

Key Disagreements and Tensions

• Technology vs. Human Ingenuity: A tension exists between viewing AI as a "panacea" that will automatically solve healthcare inefficiencies versus the view that it requires significant human entrepreneurial energy to integrate into complex workflows.
• Upcoding vs. System Reform: Concerns were raised that AI could be used by payers and providers to engage in an "arms race" of denial letters and upcoding, rather than reducing costs or improving care.
• Regulatory Uncertainty: Participants noted the precarious state of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, with millions of middle-class and low-income workers fearing loss of coverage if a legislative deal is not reached before the end of the year.
• Trust in Influencers vs. Professionals: While the healthcare system faces skepticism, a dichotomy exists where social media influencers often hold more validation for the public than healthcare professionals, necessitating a strategic collaboration with these influencers rather than direct confrontation.

Call to Action

• Summit attendees were urged to take immediate personal action by scheduling health screenings six months in the future as a demonstration of leadership in their own health management.