We will be back Jan 5th. 2026

A special episode on the ACA subsidy cliff and why it’s more than “policy drama.” We break down where things stand right now, what the 2026 reality looks like for premiums and behavior, what people are arguing about, and how to lead through it if you run a plan, health system, or benefits team.

Headline 1 FDA digital health leaders exit amid reorgs, which could slow approvals and reshape how AI devices get reviewed heading into 2026.

Headline 1: Is healthcare in an AI bubble? CIOs weigh in (Becker’s Hospital Review, Nov 17, 2025)

Headline 2: Growing GLP-1 drug costs squeeze Minnesota employers and health plans (Axios Twin Cities, Dec 15, 2025)

Headline 3: Thatch embeds ICHRA health benefits into ADP payroll platform (MobiHealthNews, Dec 15, 2025)

Five Ways AI Agents Will Transform Healthcare Operations AI is shifting from suggesting to actually doing the work—from revenue cycle to clinician support—forcing leaders to ask: what are you ready to delegate in 2026?

Non-Labor Expenses Are Becoming Hospitals' Biggest Cost Threat The quiet margin squeeze isn’t coming from labor anymore—it’s hiding in thousands of “that’s just how we’ve always done it” non-labor decisions.

Bad Debt and Charity Care Up 40% Since 2022 Coverage gaps and Medicaid redeterminations are driving unpaid care higher than ever, turning affordability leaks into a shared crisis for hospitals, plans, and eventually employers.

All 50 states applied for CMS’s $50B Rural Health Transformation Program, awards due Dec 31: A massive bet with a year end clock, where the real question is whether states build the boring foundation that makes change stick, or just dress up a plan with buzzwords.

Hospital CIO priorities for 2026 shift from new tools to scale and govern: Big systems are moving from “more AI” to “make it work,” focusing on fewer bets that reduce documentation burden, tighten security, and actually show enterprise impact.

Texas AG sues Epic over alleged monopolization and restrictive data practices: Strip away the noise and this is a power fight over data access, switching costs, and what “open” is going to mean in the next era of EHR competition.

Headline 1: Trump Signs Executive Order Blocking State AI Regulations in Healthcare (STAT News, Dec 11, 2025) — A messy state by state AI rulebook may get replaced by one lane, which means your internal governance becomes the real guardrail.

Headline 2: HHS Proposes Radical Overhaul to EHR Certification, Slashing 34 Criteria (STAT News, Dec 11, 2025) — If the federal checklist shrinks, this is your chance to stop buying “certified” and start contracting for measurable data flow in real workflows.

Headline 3: AARP Study: Tech Use Surges Among Adults 50 Plus, With Smartphone Ownership at 90% and AI Use Rising to 30% (AARP, Dec 2025) — Older adults are already digital, so the market is no longer about adoption, it’s about trust, usability, and follow-through.

In this episode we pull apart Rock Health’s new 2026 innovation map, walk through the six lanes they say actually mattered in 2025, then camp out in the AI lane to ask a simple question: what’s your park, and where do you need to stop pretending you belong?

AI Implementation Toolkit 

Headline 1: 40+ Health Systems Drop Medicare Advantage Contracts for 2026

Headline 2: Harvard Study Finds GLP-1s Have Little Impact on Obesity-Related Cancer Risk

Headline 3: AI Adoption Surges but 95 Percent of Projects Fail on Workflow

Headline 1: Brown & Brown 2026 Employer Survey

Headline 2: Lin Health’s 11M Series A and Mayo Partnership

Headline 3: WellSky 2025 Evolution of Care Report