Healthcare trends that aren’t ACA-dependent

Between implementation and potential change, there’s been a lot of talk about what is going to happen with the Affordable Care Act (also known as the ACA or ‘Obamacare’).

Fortunately, no matter what is happening in Washington D.C., there are some health trends that remain independent of any changes to the ACA.

The first trend? An ever-aging population will continue to put more strain on a system that seems in near-constant flux. Consider these statistics:

• Median age in 1960: 29.5
• Median age in 2016: 37.9
• Median age in 2030: 40+

Next up? The change that technology has and will continue to have on how health care is delivered. Whether you’re talking about diagnosis, treatment or routine communication between providers, patients and other players, technology plays a bigger role by the day.

Nearly nine in ten physicians are now using electronic health records in some way, shape or form. From advanced digital health tools to apps and even virtual doctors, the future will be in far better shape to handle an aging population than we are now.

Finally, there is one area we will always be able to count on, and that’s the medical science arena. New breakthroughs will change the landscape at breakneck speed.

New discoveries consistently push up the average lifespan and provide for a quality of life that couldn’t have been imagined by our ancestors, and cheers to that, because these are things that will remain independent of any changes to current or future healthcare law.