8/4/26: The BEST Time to be Healthy is NOW

Top 5 Reasons NOW Is the Time to Invest in YOU1. **Insurance premiums just posted their biggest jump in over a decade.** Marketplace premiums rose roughly 26% on average for 2026, and out-of-pocket costs for many enrollees are spiking even higher — some analyses put actual payment increases near 114% — as enhanced subsidies expired. Premiums for the benchmark Affordable Care Act plan soared 26%, on average, with enrollees' actual premium payments expected to spike 114% due to the expiration of enhanced federal subsidies. [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/24/economy/health-insurance-premiums-cost-increase) Waiting on the system to get cheaper isn't a strategy — building your own resilience is.2. **Employer coverage isn't a safe harbor anymore either.** Employer-sponsored insurance costs are projected to increase by 9% for 2026 — the highest growth in fifteen years. [The Century Foundation](https://tcf.org/content/commentary/its-official-americans-will-pay-much-more-for-all-types-of-health-coverage-in-2026-including-medicare/) Even people with "good" coverage are absorbing bigger costs than ever.3. **Healthcare spending keeps outpacing what your body actually needs from it.** U.S. health care spending rose 7.5% between 2022–2023 and another 7.2% the following year, topping $15,000 per person. [Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health](https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2026/navigating-an-unaffordable-health-insurance-market) More dollars are going into the system, but that's not the same as more access or better outcomes for you personally.4. **Access is shrinking, not expanding.** As many as 21 states lost at least one marketplace insurer for 2026, and Aetna exited the ACA market altogether. [Commonwealth Fund](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2026/putting-extraordinary-increase-aca-premiums-2026-perspective) Fewer insurers and higher risk pools mean fewer choices right when people need coverage most.5. **The system is built to treat illness after it happens — not to keep you out of it.** None of the trends above touch prevention, mobility, strength, balance, or neurological health. That work has always sat outside what insurance reimburses well, which means it's on you — and the earlier you start, the more ground you protect before you ever need the system that's getting more expensive and harder to access.**The bottom line:** healthcare and insurance are both moving in a direction that makes proactive care more valuable, not less. Investing in your training, mobility, and neurological health now is one of the few moves that pays off regardless of what happens to premiums or coverage next year.