Gov. Tim Walz has now dropped out of Minnesota’s 2026 gubernatorial race under the weight of the public health white-collar crimes that were committed on his watch. While his staff and state government employees continued to remain under siege for lack of oversight and incompetence, the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits ended on New Year’s Day.

That means more preventable harm and death at the hands of commercial health insurance industry lobbyists and their related bad actors.  

Americans and Minnesotans — having few places to turn for lifelong health care without gaps — are fatigued, astonished and angry. It is difficult for Americans and Minnesotans to comprehend how much harm our state and federal governments can impose on their own citizens. For example, consistently asking citizens to forego health care altogether, after paying for it. MNSure, MNCare and Medical Assistance have all been impacted, as well.

Federal prosecutors have done an exceptional job of exposing the Minnesota state government for lack of public program oversight, fiscal mismanagement and ethics failures. In the meantime, insurance company CEOs continue to run unethical, high-profit enterprises with unprecedented scope and scale without any legal consequences.

In addition, the abhorrent spinning from the Oval Office and White House press room is astonishing even to those of us who have been immersed in bipartisan Washington, D.C., health care policy, rhetoric, journalism and politicking since 1997.

Related: Minnesota Medicaid explained: Who’s on it, how much it costs, what could change

As a public figure specializing in universal health care policy and reportage, a tidal wave of questions from the public flooded my inboxes and voicemail on New Year’s Day: “Why would you advocate for single-payer universal health care now?”

I answer with questions: Isn’t it time to expect better? Is it time to build a new era of responsibility, thoughtfulness and equality rather than celebrating haste, speed and greed and incentivizing harm-for-profit? Even as American-made bombs drop on Caracas, Gaza, Iran and Kyiv, when we say “un-American” or “American,” what, specifically, does that mean? It means domestic militarization, unaffordable health care, unaffordable housing and permitting historic levels of corruption and consolidation of wealth.  This is all extremely “American.”

When the policies of economically powerful governing bodies intentionally make access to healthy food, access to quality health care and access to affordable housing scarce, citizens feel hopeless. Among other tragedies, hopelessness converts into chemical substance abuse, an epidemic of depression, self harm, and street violence. After 45 years of managed care, the doctor is in: All health outcome indicators reveal the U.S. electorate is now clinically, quantifiably, certifiably unhealthy and financially distressed.

Take a closer look: We the people allow the fraud. We allow the white-collar crime. Look at the people around your own kitchen tables, on your gymnasium courts, in your company board rooms, sitting in the pews of your churches… When individuals complain about “the news,” the fraud, the criminality, they are, in truth, complaining about humanity. Humanity is us. We are “the news.” Structural violence is the direct result of our choices, our actions and our behaviors. We allow it.

As we all look to the year ahead, we might take a moment to be less cynical about government, fraud and white-collar crime and instead look at ourselves and one another. We must admit that we have forged this fraud and crime and have allowed it to be perpetuated by bad actors across the private and public sectors — and at our own kitchen tables, possibly. We have allowed the lack of integrity across the private and public sector and the fiscal prioritization of domestic and international militarization over access to health care for all.  

Why am I advocating for single-payer health care in the United States at a time when trust is frayed, corruption is being celebrated and depravity is rewarded? Our ethical medical and health care-adjacent professionals know asking citizens to forego healthcare is not sound health care or economic policy. Universal health care is not only an aspirational healing mechanism for our country, it is a way of thinking that communicates: Your health and well-being is very important to me, stranger.

Reversing the era of harm-for-profit in Minnesota feels insurmountable at this moment. Mining the energy necessary to oppose bad actors consistently and hold them to account requires a specific type of sustained courage and stamina. At this time in history, however, practicing yoga, participating in song circles and taking cold water plunges will not be enough. 

Are the citizens of Minnesota — we the people — strong enough to demand an ethics and values revolution in 2026?  The ethical medical professionals in Minnesota, and across this country, sure hope so.

Kimberly J. Soenen is the founder and executive director of “SOME PEOPLE.”

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