Predictions for Healthcare and Benefits in 2020

Every year, we spend a few minutes with Alegeus CEO, Steve Auerbach, to understand where the market is moving and what is top-of-mind for him. This article discusses his top five healthcare and benefits predictions for 2020 and beyond.

  • Personalization will take center stage. For too long, the healthcare market has taken a peanut-butter-spread or one-size-fits-all approach to deliver services and solutions. In 2020, we will see the industry switch focus to optimize consumer engagement and use data-driven insights to deliver personalized guidance and recommendations.
  • Advanced technologies, especially artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, will be integral to deliver a next-level consumer healthcare experience. With personalization at the forefront of healthcare and benefits, AI will become foundationally integrated into the system and will, quite frankly, change the game. It will allow solution and service providers to analyze massive data sets with speed and accuracy that’s light years beyond the healthcare we know today. With data points that span health history, income, personal risk factors and numerous other traits, the ability to deliver holistic and personalized recommendations will become reality.
  • Health savings accounts (HSAs) will continue their rise in popularity. Consumers continue to cross the chasm to HSA adoption as they become more aware of the account’s superior tax benefits. It is possible that HSAs will become more popular than 401ks as employers encourage employees with account seeding, matching strategies and other incentives.
  • Market consolidation will accelerate. Illustrated by recent deals like UnitedHealth Group’s acquisition of PatientsLikeMe and the Cigna and Express Scripts merger, market consolidation will increase at a rapid rate in 2020. When partnerships bring together coverage, care and cash – as we saw with CVS, Aetna and PayFlex - they become primely positioned to transform the consumer experience by simplifying and optimizing every touch point across a consumer’s healthcare journey. In addition to consolidation, we will continue to see more non-healthcare players enter the market and bring with them innovations they’ve already perfected within their respective industries.
  • Consumer satisfaction will be the top priority. When looking at the above predictions, one thing is clear: the industry is finally focused on the consumer, and the overall result will be better outcomes and more engaged consumers who take an active role in their healthcare decisions.

“Healthcare is one of the most complicated topics for consumers to navigate, but the industry has begun to make a concerted effort to collaborate and remove some of the biggest pain points,” said Steven Auerbach, Alegeus CEO. “Introducing disruptive technologies that guide consumers to better care will transform the market, and we look forward to seeing these healthcare predictions become reality in 2020.”

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