As income inequality in the US reaches unprecedented levels, more Americans are forced to do without basic necessities. Families are chaining buy-now, pay-later schemes together to afford groceries, while the cost of utilities skyrockets, thanks in large part to the AI data center boom.
Belt tightening is also playing out in the healthcare industry. In a recently published survey by healthcare polling firm KFF, a whopping 36 percent of respondents said they’ve skipped or postponed a visit to the doctor for financial reasons in 2025, up from 25 percent just two years prior. It’s a grim statistic, coinciding with an alarming rise in the number of Americans going without health insurance.
Yet for those in the top income brackets, the outlook is much rosier. A tidal wave of buzzy new health startups marketed to the upper echelons of society means that the wealthy never have to do without curated radiation exposure kits or AI devices that analyze their stool.
One growing sector tailoring to the haves is the “diagnostic” — or on-demand — MRI trade, embodied by startups like Prenuvo and Neko Health.
