Happy New Year!
Looking ahead, there's... well, there's a lot. It's admittedly a grim time for anyone who experiences the healthcare system in America, whether you're a patient or a medical professional.
But at the same time, there's a lot of potential for people like us to make a positive impact. So for this month's deep dive, Will is sharing his musings on where American healthcare went in 2025, and how we can fight for better in 2026.
All our best,
The Glaucomfleckens
What Happened To Healthcare In 2025?
Just under a year ago, I released Dr. Glaucomflecken’s Incredibly Uplifting & Really Fun Guide to US Healthcare. If you haven’t seen it before, it’s a crash course on all the cool ways our healthcare system makes medicine a nightmare for doctors and patients alike – but, you know, with funny jokes to make everything more palatable. But given when that guide came out – right at the beginning of the current administration – I knew things were going to change a lot, and likely for the worse.
Well. They did.
But instead of getting lost in the countless crappy headlines, I wanted to take stock of where we’re at. More importantly, I wanted to share my thoughts on how we can continue fighting for better in 2026 and beyond, even in the face of all that [vague horrified gesturing].
I like this approach because in addition to giving us direction, it also gives us reason to hope. If there’s one thing I want you to take away from this, it’s that your voice matters. I’ve been posting about medicine online for years, and despite so many rifts and divisions in our society, I’ve never seen people louder and more unified in the fight for affordable, equitable, evidence-based medicine.
So without further ado, here’s what we need to follow going into the new year.
Funding Cuts & MAHA Science
In case you missed it, HHS is now being run by people who actually believe doctors are keeping patients sick.
The decisions coming from this new administration have been nonsensical at best, and actively harmful at worst. Through legislation like the “Big Beautiful Bill,” we’re seeing a wholesale dismantling of our public health infrastructure that strangles our nation’s medical research and development capabilities, and leaves middle and lower class Americans out to dry.
For example, there are new caps to med school loans that will make medical education even more exclusive to the wealthy – which is, of course, also part of a greater anti-DEI push with incredibly wide-reaching implications.
There are also the sweeping cuts to services like Medicaid, which will devastate patients and practices around the country, particularly in rural communities. And research funding? You can kiss that goodbye, unless it’s “research” that fits a MAHA-flavored anti-science agenda. Mmm, tastes like horse dewormer and raw milk!
These financial decisions have far-reaching and frightening ramifications that will likely last for years to come. But who’s making those decisions?
Full stop: the grifters are in office. Pseudoscience and fearmongering are becoming the law of the land, and doctors have been left scrambling to figure out how to protect their patients from the impacts.
The long and short of it is: vulnerable populations – particularly women, LGBTQIA+ people, and kids – are also losing access to lifesaving care because of antiquated, unscientific thought rooted in prejudice. So, yeah. The situation is dire. But from here, I want to focus on a topic that’s given me cause for optimism: people showing up en masse to dunk on UnitedHealthcare.
The Luigi Of It All
Dial your brain back to December 2024 – a weird month for me, if there ever was one. You never expect thousands of people to end up linking your jokes about an insurance company to the assassination of that company’s CEO.
We don’t need to get too deep in the weeds of that story, because the main thing I want to talk about here is how it undeniably spurred a massive wave of public pushback to health insurance practices in this country. Across the political spectrum, countless doctors, patients, and their families were largely saying the same thing: corporate greed was killing people.
I have the kind of job that you can only have in modern times – a practicing ophthalmologist-slash-internet comedian. Because of my place in that particular niche, I had a front-row seat to one of the biggest stories of the year among doctors: Dr. Elisabeth Potter’s fight against UHC.
Against the backdrop of a national conversation about UnitedHealthcare’s dastardly deeds, doctors had viral proof of what we have to go through to give our patients the care they need. On top of that, we had proof of UHC’s retaliation against doctors who speak out.
The funny thing is, though, that this only got doctors talking even more. And between countless whistleblowers, plummeting stock valuations, and multiple fraud investigations, UHC had a pretty rough 2025. Not all, but a significant portion of that distress for the company was a result of coordinated public outcry.
So, where does that leave us? Things are still bad. They will likely get worse. Every time I hear RFK Jr. talk, I think I might have a brain worm too.
But at the same time, I want to highlight the ways in which individuals have come together to speak out, advocate for solutions, and construct parallel systems to care for one another. And like I’ve said a few times throughout this, we’ve never seen people raising their voices and getting involved quite like this.
If you want to see a bunch more of my videos on all these topics, plus a ton more resources and research on 2025 in healthcare – I’ve got you covered. You can see the official addendum to my Healthcare Guide below, alongside the original if you haven’t read it yet.
If we want to get through this, we cannot give up on that hope. I’ll be here to do my part, ranting about it all to as many people who will listen. And if you’ve read this far – thank you for doing yours. Have a wonderful 2026!
In Last Month's Issue
In last month's deep dive, Will closed out the year with a trip down memory lane – or technically, a trip back to his teenage years, where he was inducted into the Deer Park High School Hall of Honor. And even more importantly – the teacher who helped make him the comedian he is today was there to see it.
It's a heartfelt tribute to the people who've shaped our journey – whether they be Mr. Sample, or you, the person reading this! Check it out at the link below.
And yes – that is a genuine picture of Will in high school. You're welcome.
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