As people across the country consider their 2026 health insurance options, there’s a massive elephant in the room: Some aren’t thrilled with the industry right now.

As part of a Sept. 24 report, global research and advisory firm Forrester found only 54% of 12,036 insurance customers describe health insurers as trustworthy.

Though several 2023 and 2024 surveys found the vast majority of consumers were satisfied with their coverage, that is the past.

Forrester found waning trust may impact business. Survey results included in the report show that of 7,512 customers, those with less trust in their insurer were 10.3x more likely to switch insurers compared to high-trust customers, up from 2.4x more likely in 2024.

“As consumer choices expand, including not buying health insurance, the risk of churn becomes more pronounced,” Forrester Principal Analyst Arielle Trzcinski told Healthcare Brew.

The distrust has been building in recent years.—CC

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Breast cancer screening has long been skewed toward older patients who are more likely to be diagnosed with the disease. But in recent years, rates have jumped among younger women.

As breast cancer cases have risen 1% among women over 50 each year from 2012 to 2022, rates also rose 1.4% in women under 50, according to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. In fact, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among US women ages 20 to 49, the nonprofit also reported.

That’s why Bailey Renger created BeSound. The startup officially launched on Sept. 30 with $6.8 million in seed funding, co-led by Overwater Ventures, Kindred Ventures, and Muse Capital, according to a press release. BeSound aims to detect and prevent breast cancer in young women by providing imaging and results within 24–48 hours for an up-front cost of $350. The process can typically take a few days, the National Breast Cancer Foundation wrote on its site.

Renger previously worked as a physicist, quantum computing research fellow at Harvard University, and NASA researcher.

See the full convo here.—CM