Part 1 | The Pandemic's Impact: The Effect of Covid-19 on Finances, Coverage, and Utilization
Insight #1
National health plans are deploying outsized
gains achieved amid the pandemic to fuel
strategic consolidation and diversification. Keep reading on pg. 6
Insight #2
With the hospital sector experiencing
significant levels of divergence in
financial performance, further
consolidation is likely on the horizon. Keep reading on pg. 8
Insight #3
The primary threat to the physician
landscape is not financial sustainability,
it’s workforce sustainability. Keep reading on pg. 10
Insight #4
Suppliers have largely seen financial
performance and political scrutiny return
to pre-pandemic norms—except for digital
health companies, which are gaining new
levels of influence. Keep reading on pg. 12
Insight #5
The uninsured rate did not increase
significantly due to Covid-19, but further
national coverage expansion is unlikely. Keep reading on pg. 14
Insight #6
Concerned about impending spikes in
health spending, employers are doubling
down on steerage as their preeminent
cost-control strategy. Keep reading on pg. 16
Insight #7
Buoyed by federal assistance and
stronger-than-expected tax revenues,
states have shifted their focus to
longer-term ambitions like health equity. Keep reading on pg. 18
Insight #8
As Medicare insolvency inches closer,
painful cost-cutting measures aimed at
plans and providers are likely within the
next few years. Keep reading on pg. 20
Insight #9
Covid-19 is unlikely to prompt big shifts
in aggregate demand, but there will be
meaningful changes to individual service
lines and sites of care, particularly among
highly profitable procedures. Keep reading on pg. 22
Part 2 | An Industry at the Crossroads: How Today’s Decisions Will Shape the Future of Health Care
Insight #10
A new equilibrium for the health care
industry will emerge in the coming years—
but the window of opportunity to shape
that future will be brief. Keep reading on pg. 24
Insight #11
Health equity is an increasingly common
mission imperative, but the industry will
make more meaningful progress if leaders
can solidify it as a business imperative. Keep reading on pg. 26
Insight #12
How providers and plans respond to new
price transparency requirements will
determine whether these policies reinforce
existing market structures or break them. Keep reading on pg. 28
Insight #13
Despite renewed and widespread interest
in value-based payment, uptake is more
likely among physicians than other
provider groups such as health systems.
it’s workforce sustainability. Keep reading on pg. 30
Insight #14
Whether physicians continue to migrate
to health systems or instead align with
alternate partners will depend on which
suitors can look beyond the binary choice
of employment or independence. Keep reading on pg. 32
Insight #15
The future of virtual care is not merely a
question of how much, but of whom: third
parties are working aggressively to chip away
at the lead local providers have gained. Keep reading on pg. 34
Insight #16
Unless leaders can balance speed-to-market
with intentionality, the burgeoning home-based care market will exacerbate existing
fragmentation, labor, and equity challenges. Keep reading on pg. 36
