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Industry · Week 44, 2026

Insurance

What the field argues about, where people say it is heading, and what those ahead of the curve are doing.

Markets, money and crypto
0.7%
People quoted
8

AI-generated Questions, positions and links named by an AI model from the quotes and figures on this page. Every quote is checked word for word against its source; numbers come only from the surveys shown. How subject pages are made

Insurance

Media

Insurance

Opinions

The questions the field argues about, and each side in the words of the people who hold it.

Who should take on risks that existing insurance leaves uncovered?

Bridge uncovered risks

Take on large risks that existing insurance does not cover and bridge gaps in emerging risks.

And so what we've really been setting up is to try to take the really big risks on and risks that the current insurance industry doesn't cover, to basically sort of bridge those gaps in a lot of the emergent risks.

Jeremy MaletzMoney Stuff: The Podcast, 9 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Bootstrap, not absorb

Build a way to address those risks without becoming the party that ultimately takes all of them.

No, it's not. It is not going to be us that ultimately is going to take all that risk. It's gonna be us that bootstraps it.

Jeremy MaletzMoney Stuff: The Podcast, 9 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

How should people navigate care costs and insurance billing?

Ask about waiting

At the hospital, ask what could happen if care is delayed.

But you can certainly ask when you arrive at the hospital, at the ER desk with your throbbing headache, you can say, oh, what happens if I wait and I don't get care?

Michelle AndrewsWhat the Health? From KFF Health News, 8 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Scrutinize AI billing

Check how hospitals use AI to identify conditions and add billable secondary diagnoses.

It's basically talking about how hospitals are, like, running their coding through AI tools and the AI is basically picking up more complicated conditions and then adding, like, secondary conditions to basically, basically maximize the number of things that they can bill the insurance for.

Paige Winfield CunninghamWhat the Health? From KFF Health News, 8 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

How should people respond when insurance plans become less affordable?

Shop for plans

Compare plans because a cheaper option may be available than the one currently held.

The experts tell me that you should always shop around, especially so this year, because there may be a cheaper plan than the one you're in.

Julie ApplebyWhat the Health? From KFF Health News, 29 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Seek policy action

Treat unaffordable coverage and care as a reason for lawmakers to act on insurance.

I still feel like it's in the idea space and not so much the reality space. But I do feel like we're coming to a, a crux moment and I think that we needed like lawmakers realizing we need to do something about insurance.

Victoria KnightWhat the Health? From KFF Health News, 29 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

And now you have so many people who can't afford insurance, who can't afford care even if they have insurance.

Alice Miranda OllsteinWhat the Health? From KFF Health News, 8 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Insurance

Emotions

What published surveys counted when they asked people in and around the field.


Pulse

Pulse: what readers say

Readers who answered, not a representative sample.

Insurance

Direction

Some proposals aim to bridge risks current insurance does not cover, while treating the new insurer as a bootstrap rather than the ultimate risk-bearer.

And so what we've really been setting up is to try to take the really big risks on and risks that the current insurance industry doesn't cover, to basically sort of bridge those gaps in a lot of the emergent risks.

Jeremy MaletzMoney Stuff: The Podcast, 9 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

No, it's not. It is not going to be us that ultimately is going to take all that risk. It's gonna be us that bootstraps it.

Jeremy MaletzMoney Stuff: The Podcast, 9 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Insurance

Ahead of the curve

What practitioners ahead of the curve say they do now.

  1. Add providers where specialty-coverage capacity is low in a service area.

    So when we see that there's low capacity in one of our specialty zip code insurance quadrants, then we will add providers there.

    Oliver KharrazThe a16z Show, 17 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem
  2. Ask hospital staff what waiting for care could mean before deciding whether to wait.

    But you can certainly ask when you arrive at the hospital, at the ER desk with your throbbing headache, you can say, oh, what happens if I wait and I don't get care?

    Michelle AndrewsWhat the Health? From KFF Health News, 8 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem
  3. Compare available plans instead of assuming the current plan is the cheapest option.

    The experts tell me that you should always shop around, especially so this year, because there may be a cheaper plan than the one you're in.

    Julie ApplebyWhat the Health? From KFF Health News, 29 Oct 2026 · from an automatic transcriptReport a problem

Insurance

Topics and industries

Where this field meets other topics, careers and industries.

Week 44, 2026 · 8 people quoted

Insurance

Discussion

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