As uncertainty mounts, the healthcare sector is preparing for a turbulent chapter. Leaders across health systems, health plans, and life sciences firms are on high alert as a wave of federal policy shifts threaten to upend their financial and operational footing.

Changes are unfolding across many dimensions. Direct funding to the industry is under threat, from immediate research funding cuts to the massive healthcare cuts package developing in Congress. The broader business environment uncertainty is changing input costs, with volatile tariffs pressuring supply contracts and economic outlook concerns raising questions about future prices. And federal health regulatory activities are in flux, with reduced agency capacity for routine operations and new postures on public health guidelines.