Welcome to this month’s ADVOCATE BRIEF
July Brief: Fired Up, Fed Up, and Taking the Mic at CPO Summit 2025
Welcome to the July edition of the Archo Advocate Brief. This month, we’re fired up. Why? Because we’ll be presenting at the 2025 Chief Patient Officer Summit—a space where real leaders gather to ask harder questions and demand better for patients. Our work at Archo isn’t just about insight. It’s about action. And this issue equips you with what you need to identify the gaps, push the system, and drive lasting change.
POLICY PULSE: POLITICAL
Policy isn’t abstract. It decides who gets treated and who gets left behind. This month’s headlines show just how fast the landscape is shifting—from public option proposals to state-led crackdowns on PBMs. To stay ahead, you'd better understand the playbook.
Key Insights:
Medicare Part E Proposed: A new bill introduces a public Medicare option that competes with private insurers. Read more
Transparency as Leverage: New CMS Rules Expand Hospital Price Disclosure Requirements. Full article
Utilization Management Fallout: 961% spike in drug exclusions creates $93B in system waste. Health Affairs
Red Tape = Cancer Risk: 85% of cancer patients face insurance delays due to prior authorization. CancerCare report
UnitedHealth Exposé: Leaked internal docs show executives downplaying patient concerns to stabilize investor unrest. STAT coverage
CTA: Want to shift policy from theory to patient impact? Let’s talk.
COST OF CARE: ECONOMIC
Healthcare affordability keeps showing its teeth. And it’s not just about premiums or co-pays. It’s about structural control—who owns the doctors, who controls the meds, and who profits while patients ration care. These stories reveal the economic engine beneath the surface.
Key Insights:
Vertical Integration Is Killing Choice: PBMs and insurers use profit models that strip patient autonomy. Listen in
Private Practice Isn’t Dying—It’s Being Bought: More physicians are employed by corporate groups than ever. 5 Charts
Oregon Pushes Back: State legislation bans corporate ownership of physician groups, scoring a rare win for independent care. Big Newsletter
CTA: Let’s make the economics of care work for patients, not just portfolios.
COMMUNITY LENS: SOCIOCULTURAL
Forget the boardroom. Real change happens in communities. This section highlights the people and programs fighting for access, equity, and visibility, where advocacy shows up not as a buzzword but a life raft.
Key Insights:
1,200+ Advocacy Orgs. Still Invisible: Most patients are unaware of their existence. Astellas Action Week
Health Equity Needs Executives Who Listen: A New CMO Brings Community Focus to the C-Suite. HealthLeaders
Non-Medical Switching Is Not Administrative: It’s Clinical, and It’s Harmful to Patients. [Archo Post]
Gene Therapy Angst: Breakthroughs mean little without equitable access to delivery. BioPharma Dive
CTA: Build advocacy strategies that reach beyond the conference room. Start here.
TECH TRENDS: TECHNOLOGY
Innovation sells. But progress? That’s harder. From AI search shifts to corporate misfires on “patient-centricity,” this section cuts through the noise and asks: Who is tech serving, and who’s being left behind?
Key Insights:
AI vs. Google: Patients are turning to AI chat tools over search engines to get health info. GeneOnline
Healthcare Conglomerates Off-Track: UnitedHealth’s Leaked Communications Reveal a System Prioritizing Wall Street Over Care.
Patient-Centricity Has Become a Buzzword: Without Infrastructure and Execution, It’s Failing Us.
DEI’s Language Shift: Shareholders Reject Anti-DEI, but the Lexicon May Be Evolving. LinkedIn Post
CTA: Are your tech bets patient-forward or just optics? Let’s recalibrate.
Matt Delivers His TEDx Charleston Talk…
The stories in this month’s Brief don’t live in isolation. They connect—threading through policy standoffs, economic manipulation, failed tech promises, and communities still begging to be heard. We’re done waiting for permission to fix it. If that resonates with you, take five minutes and watch our TEDx Talk. It’s raw, personal, and built to jolt. Because the future of advocacy won’t be handed down from a podium—it’ll be built by people who’ve lived the gaps and are ready to close them. It’s gotta be good, we just passed 160,000 views!
We’re also proud to introduce the AdvocateBridge—a new public and industry-facing platform from Archo. Built to serve patients first, AdvocateBridge (https://advocatebridge.org) connects individuals with trusted advocacy organizations that can guide them through every step of their medical journey.
For industry, AdvocateBridge will integrate insights from the ELAVAY Advocacy Intelligence Report to power customized dashboards and uncover real-time opportunities for collaboration, like FDA insight requests and listening sessions. This is just the beginning.
On a personal note, Matt Toresco, our founder, has started work on his first book. He’s bringing his TEDx talk to the page, telling the whole story of breaking his neck in 2005, surviving 18 years of opiate dependence, and rebuilding from the inside out. This isn’t a memoir. It’s a field guide for anyone ready to advocate for themselves in a system that rarely makes it easy.
Meathead is truly bionic!
1 All sources can be found here