Supreme Court Decision Will Have Little Impact on Changing American Healthcare Landscape, Says Expert

While the U.S. Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments this week over the constitutionality of the controversial Obama administration's healthcare reform law, at least one healthcare expert says it won't much matter what the court decides, since there are big changes moving the iceberg that is healthcare in the U.S.

“Healthcare is reforming with or without the legislation,” said G. Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Company, a diversified global financial services firm focused on the life sciences. “The most dramatic changes to healthcare are underway, and they are being driven not by legislation, but by patients, providers, payers, and technology.”

While the issue is a bit of a political hot potato, one thing is clear to most people: the U.S. healthcare system cannot continue on its current path without disastrous consequences for the nation and its citizens.

In a recent publication, Burrill examines the financial pressures being felt by both healthcare systems and innovators as aging populations, expanding demand for healthcare in emerging economies, and an epidemic of chronic disease strain global payers and providers struggling to contain costs. In addition, flagging R&D productivity, rising regulatory hurdles, and pricing pressures from governments are making it harder for companies to fund the development of innovative therapies needed to address the the most devastating (not to mention expensive to treat) diseases.

In a press release, Burrill says that, to make the needed changes, the nation needs to be proactive about healthcare and not reactive, as it is now. This will be possible thanks to new changes in healthcare technology.

“We are now at a point where the emergence of low-cost sequencing, targeted therapies, molecular diagnostics, and other technologies are finally moving us into the real world of personalized medicine,” says Burrill. “That's coming as the convergence of information technology, wireless connectivity, and low-cost monitors will provide us with real-time information about our own health and wellness, and put individuals in unprecedented control of their own health.”