News You Can Use – July 2026

This month’s episode of “News You Can Use” on Healthcare NOW Radio features news from the month of July 2026.

The show that gives you a quick insight into the latest news, twists, turns, and debacles going on in healthcare with my friend and co-host Craig Joseph, MD (@CraigJoseph) Chief Medical Officer at Nordic Consulting Partners and myself, where every diagnosis comes with a side of humor. We hope you stay curious, stay engaged, and keep seeking the truth in healthcare in a world that thrives on information.

Buckle up as we dive into the ER of excitement, the ICU of irrationality, and the waiting room of wacky wisdom in this month’s show that features a review of:

• Ambulance Rides Loan Requirements
• Skynet is Here
• Is the ACA in a Death Spiral
• Care Rationing in All Its Versions
• Full Body Scanning
• The World Cup

Your AI Wants Freedom

Every week we think healthcare has reached peak absurdity, and every week reality says, “Hold my ambulance bill.” We kick off our review with AI deciding that sandboxes are apparently more of a suggestion than a rule. Reports that an OpenAI model escaped its test environment and went shopping for another company’s models had everyone dusting off their Terminator references. Is Skynet here? Probably not. But it is a reminder that AI capabilities are advancing faster than our ability to explain them. Somewhere between “it’s just exploring” and “it’s attempting industrial espionage,” we landed on the uncomfortable truth that AI safety is becoming less science fiction and more systems engineering. Of course, there’s always the possibility it’s brilliant marketing. Nothing creates the demand quite like telling people

“Our AI is so powerful we had to lock it away.”

Up next a topic that’s somehow even scarier than rogue AI. Getting into an ambulance in America. Imagine surviving being hit by a car only to be flattened by a $13,000 ambulance bill for a short ride between hospitals. The deeper we dug, though, the more complicated the story became. Ambulances are much like fire departments. Or for the financial-leaning crowd, you are purchasing a future option of an ambulance ride as detailed in, Why American ambulance rides are so expensive. We both loved the image from the original JEMS journal

You aren’t really paying for the ride. You’re paying for the trained crews waiting for the moment your worst day arrives.

The problem isn’t that emergency care costs money. The problem is we’ve designed the funding of this system that bills people as if they should have purchased insurance after the house caught fire. Add in invisible healthcare rationing, shrinking insurance pools, and the slow-motion unraveling of Affordable Care Act coverage, and we’re left pretending rationing doesn’t exist while practicing it every single day. If we’re going to ration care, and every healthcare system on Earth does. We should at least have the courage to admit it and make the rules transparent.

We wrapped things up with a healthy dose of technological optimism mixed with clinical skepticism. AI-powered full-body scanning in your bathtub sounds futuristic, because it is. But while it sounds like a good idea, that is until you remember that finding every harmless abnormality in the human body is a fantastic way to bankrupt healthcare while giving radiologists permanent migraines. Sometimes more data just creates more expensive questions. Just remember, the plural of anecdote is not data.

We closed out this month’s episode on a happier note with the World Cup. Where the football was exceptional, the atmosphere was electric, and I was left once again mourning England’s exit while grudgingly admiring Spain’s brilliance. If only fixing healthcare were as simple as settling things with a penalty shootout. Instead, we’ll keep arguing about AI, ambulances, insurance, and the glorious chaos that makes healthcare the world’s most expensive reality show.

We hope you enjoy our take on the latest news and developments in healthcare and want to help you keep untangling the web of information, dodging the sensational pitfalls, and emerging victorious, albeit a little dizzy, on the other side. In the end, the stories we uncover, and the discussions we ignite, all shape the narrative of our shared future. We want to hear from you, especially if you have topics covered or questions you’d like answered. You can reach out directly via the contact form on my website, or send a message on LinkedIn to Craig or me.

Until next time keep solving healthcare’s mysteries before they become your emergencies and stay healthy, stay skeptical, and for heaven’s sake, check who’s listed as your emergency contact.

This article was originally published on the Dr. Nick – The Incrementalist blog and is republished here with permission.

News You Can Use gives you a quick insight into the latest news, twists, turns and debacles going on in healthcare with Dr. Nick and Dr. Craig and where every diagnosis comes with a side of side-splitting humor. Your hosts are Dr Nick a long-time host, innovator and healthcare wizard who can prescribe a digital dose of innovation to cure even the most ailing operational inefficiencies. And Dr. Craig Joseph is the healthcare guru who can diagnose both patient and software glitches with equal precision, making sure hospitals run smoother than a well-oiled robot doc.

So buckle up, because we’re diving into the ER of excitement, the ICU of irrationality, and the waiting room of wacky wisdom.

Stay curious, stay engaged, and keep seeking the truth in a world that thrives on information. Because in the end, the stories we uncover, and the discussions we ignite, they all shape the narrative of our shared future.

And keep laughing at the absurdity, keep rolling your eyes at the headlines, and keep spreading the news like your favorite gossip. Who knows, maybe someday you’ll be the breaking news story we’re all talking about!

Weekdays at 4:00 am, 12:00 pm, and 8:00 pm ET.

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