I was 21. Brain cancer came via a blinking answering machine. There was barely an internet. No young adult programs. We kind of all just died back then. But I didn't. I've watched three decades of impossible become ordinary—and it's been the greatest terrible privilege. 2026 is the Year of the Patient.

ACA subsidies are gone. Premiums are up 114%. 19 million cancer survivors and 150 million Americans with chronic conditions remember every denial and every EOB that reads like a threat. We are the largest bipartisan voter bloc yet to be organized. 2026 is the Year of the Patient. We will vote.

Congress left while ACA subsidies expired. Premiums spiked 114%. UnitedHealthcare dumped costly seniors. RFK Jr. gutted the CDC. NIH cancer research was slashed. The advocacy community stayed silent. 2025 was a catastrophe for patients. If you can't admit that, you're complicit. Be pissed.

And the sick shall inherit the ballotMark Cuban keeps explaining healthcare to people who already agree while patients keep losing coverage. In 2026 that dynamic breaks. Patients stop serving as anecdotes and start organizing as power. This year marks the rise of a voting bloc insurers and politicians fear.