Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Navigating US Healthcare Changes to ACA, Medicare, Medicaid, and More.

Join Dr. Don Berwick and learn what patients, families, and clinicians need to know about rising costs, coverage changes, and healthcare reform.

News

Navigating US Healthcare Changes to ACA, Medicare, Medicaid, and More.
black and gray stethoscope

The American healthcare system is often described as the most advanced in the world—yet for many people, it feels inaccessible, confusing, and broken. Costs are high, coverage is inconsistent, and patients often feel overwhelmed navigating insurance networks, medical bills, and treatment options. At the same time, the professionals who serve within this system—physicians, nurses, and frontline care workers—are burning out under the weight of rising demands, tightening budgets, and eroding public trust.

And now, a fresh wave of policy changes is adding new layers of complexity.


With major shifts underway in Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, Medicaid and Medicare funding, and vaccine access policies, the next few years will bring real consequences for patients, families, and clinicians alike. Yet the public conversation often reduces these changes to partisan talking points or political theater, leaving individuals unsure of what they can actually do to protect their health, their finances, and their care options.

That’s why The Unity Forum is proud to host a special conversation on Tuesday, December 16th at 1:00 PM ET with one of the most respected and trusted leaders in American healthcare: Dr. Don Berwick.

You can register to attend the free webinar here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_a9FHFcBAQ9Cf9eXs6egeNg

Dr. Berwick is the founding president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and the former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). A pediatrician by training and a longtime champion of healthcare reform, Dr. Berwick has spent his career advancing ideas that prioritize patient safety, care quality, and dignity for all.

In this live, 45-minute conversation, we’ll talk with Dr. Berwick about the future of healthcare in the United States—and how each of us can navigate it more thoughtfully, effectively, and humanely.

What This Conversation Will Cover

This isn’t a policy roundtable or a campaign stump speech. It’s a conversation for real people—patients trying to afford their medications, parents navigating confusing care options for their families, and healthcare workers doing their best in a system that often fails to support them.

We’ll ask Dr. Berwick:

  • How can individuals and families prepare for changes in insurance coverage and out-of-pocket costs?
  • What should healthcare professionals know and do as financial pressures begin impacting patient outcomes more directly?
  • What public policies are worth fighting for to create a system that works better for everyone?

Dr. Berwick will share insights not only from his decades of leadership in national health policy but also from his experience as a physician and advocate. He understands both the system and the people in it.

We’ll also take audience questions, offering a rare opportunity to engage directly with one of healthcare’s leading thinkers.

Why This Matters Now

We’re entering a pivotal moment for the future of American healthcare. As political and economic pressures mount, the choices we make—or fail to make—will shape access, affordability, and quality for years to come.

Patients can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. Healthcare professionals need trusted guidance. And all of us, regardless of political affiliation, deserve a system that is navigable, humane, and sustainable.

This episode of The Unity Forum is designed to meet that need: to create space for clear-eyed, constructive dialogue at the intersection of policy, practice, and personal experience.

Join the Conversation

The Unity Forum is a cross-partisan webinar and podcast series powered by Alumni for Freedom & Democracy, created to foster open dialogue, civic engagement, and practical insight on issues that affect us all.

Register for the webinar at: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_a9FHFcBAQ9Cf9eXs6egeNg
Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Time: 1:00 PM ET
Location: Zoom (link provided upon registration)

The webinar recording will be distributed to those who register.

Let’s come together for a conversation that cuts through the noise—and focuses on what truly matters.

Chris Malone is the host of The Unity Forum. Malone is Founder of Fidelum Group and co-author of the award-winning book, “The HUMAN Brand: How We Relate to People, Products & Companies.”


Read More

A woman standing in the middle of a food pantry filled with canned and boxed goods and toiletries.

Martha Molina has worked at the Flowing Wells Family Resource Center for 27 years. As its coordinator, she says the center serves about 50 families a month and gives our 160 food boxes. The center is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday - Friday. / Martha Molina ha trabajado en el Centro de Recursos Familiares de Flowing Wells durante 27 años. Como coordinadora, dice que el centro atiende a unas 50 familias al mes y entrega 160 cajas de alimentos. El centro está abierto de lunes a viernes, de 8 a.m. a 3 p.m.

Shannon Conner

“The Alarm Bell”: Arizona’s Drop in SNAP Participation Signals Potential Nationwide Impact of Trump Legislation

More than 400,000 Arizonans have lost their SNAP benefits since July — the largest decline in the nation by a wide margin — as an underfunded state agency administered changes called for in President Donald Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The drop represents nearly 47% of the state’s participants in the program better known as food stamps and includes about 180,000 children, according to the Arizona Department of Economic Security, which administers the program.

Keep ReadingShow less
‘Women Will Die’: How the Mifepristone Ban Will Affect Women across the Country

In this photo illustration, packages of Mifepristone tablets are displayed at a family planning clinic.

(Photo illustration by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

‘Women Will Die’: How the Mifepristone Ban Will Affect Women across the Country

WASHINGTON–Maternal health advocates and a Virginia state legislator warned that women’s health would suffer even in states that allow abortions if the Supreme Court fails to block a ban on mail deliveries of mifepristone, a drug used in abortions.

Jennifer McClellan, a representative for the state of Virginia and long-time advocate for reproductive rights, experienced a high-risk pregnancy and an emergency C-section 9 weeks before her due date. She said that she worried about the risks to individuals if they lose easy access to Mifepristone for abortions, miscarriages, or other reasons.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Passengers are evacuated by small boat.

Passengers are evacuated by small boat from the MV Hondius in the Granadilla Port on May 10, 2026 in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands, Spain.

Getty Images, Chris McGrath

The Story Behind the Hantavirus Outbreak and Why It Matters

No, the hantavirus is not like COVID-19, and it will not trigger another pandemic, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General, in a recent CBS News interview. And yes, it is understandable that many people around the world panicked and began ordering face masks online. In many ways, we are still reeling from the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic, not to mention the flood of disinformation unleashed then that continues to polarize us now.

The good news is that, based on what we know, this hantavirus strain is not highly transmissible because it requires prolonged exposure and does not spread through air.

Keep ReadingShow less
stethoscope and us dollar bills on blue-colored background.

As debate over universal health care intensifies in the United States, rising medical costs, insurance complexity, and international comparisons are fueling renewed calls for a transparent, accountable system that guarantees basic care for all Americans.

Getty Images, aaaaimages

The United States May Be the Best Place to Build Universal Health Care

The debate over health insurance in the United States has returned to the forefront as the Affordable Care Act faces political pressure, insurance premiums continue to climb, and physicians experience increasing restrictions from insurance companies. A recent poll shows that roughly 62 to 68 percent of Americans believe the government has a responsibility to ensure health care coverage for all. Yet after more than a century of debate, the federal government has taken only small steps toward universal coverage. Today, the United States spends a relatively high amount per person on health care, but Americans die younger and are less healthy than residents in other high-income countries.

Having experienced different health care systems firsthand, I am deeply aware of how universal health care can impact life. Surprisingly, I have also realized that the United States may actually have one of the systems best suited to making it work.

Keep ReadingShow less