Conference Presentation, Panel, Statement
Leading the Next Era of Health | Future of Health Summit 2025
Milken InstituteBertha Coombs, Joe Daly, Jeremy David, Shane Jacobson, Sarah London, Baligh Yehia, Esther Krofa
- Global health spending is projected to increase by 4.2 percent in 2025, while mental health conditions are expected to cost the global economy $6 trillion by 2030.
- The obesity trend has reversed for the first time in tracking, yet the usage of weight loss injectables in the United States has more than doubled in a short period.
- Seventy-three percent of Americans expect employers to provide quality health care, though significant concern exists regarding the application of AI on the front lines of medical care.
- State-level data on health care access, quality, and cost is scheduled for release on November 18th.
- AI is anticipated to significantly impact care reduction and access sub-components, with Jefferson Health committing to return 10 million patient care hours over three years and launching Ambient AI for clinicians this summer.
- Implementation of AI solutions requires closing the loop between workflow experts and solution providers within weeks, as embedding human ingenuity is necessary to avoid merely accelerating dysfunctions in a broken system.
- Jefferson Health expects approximately 11,000 weekly visits using Ambient AI to yield positive results and high net promoter scores, while also planning to address nursing care and hospital space next.
- There is optimism that entrepreneurs within health systems will drive value, though past attempts to automate thousands of roles via AI have largely failed, and the software industry has struggled with productivity gains over the last 20 years.
- Risks include a potential "battle of the bots" in claims appeals, the danger of AI becoming a joke if talent does not shift from social media to healthcare, and the possibility of funding pressures on Medicaid if enrollment eligibility changes.
- Interventions such as pooling resources for high-cost cures, virtual care expansion, and supplemental investments in food deserts aim to drive down costs and improve health outcomes across taxpayer bases.
- Centene plans to fund scholarships and train Medicaid members as doulas and community health workers, while the American Cancer Society mobilizes funding requests for food access next week to address disparities in cancer survival.
- Data indicates that Americans with cancer unable to reach NCI designated centers are 30 to 70 percent less likely to survive, highlighting the need for collaborative networks to expand access to clinical trials.
- The current health tax exemption is viewed as a potential $250 billion annual revenue loss favoring the middle class unfairly, with a desire for a deal on enhanced tax credit extension before the year's end.
- The coming five to ten years are predicted to be a turning point where AI, workforce upskilling, and upstream investments in food, education, and safety reshape the system, provided that human talent prioritizes solving healthcare problems over social media optimization.