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December 2008
Making health care more affordable is the key to making the US system sustainable. We can bring three of the largest sources of underlying costs and their growth under control.
The United States spends more on health care than comparable countries do and more than its wealth would suggest. Here’s how—and why.
November 2008
At present, most health care payers convert less than 10 percent of the customers who move to a new product class. There’s substantial room for improvement.
Success is not just about top-line growth.
September 2008
Over the past 50 years, spending on health care has consistently outpaced broader economic growth. What will happen if that trend persists? What forces might accelerate or slow it?
Most companies treat benefits as a cost of doing business. They should see them instead as a competitive weapon.
July 2008
All signs point to a more specialized future for US hospitals. But getting from here to there won’t be easy.
June 2008
Consumers are confused, concerned, and uncertain about their health insurance and financing needs. Companies should listen to them.
May 2008
A combination of reforms is needed to ease the burden on Japan’s health care system
The market is smaller than conventional wisdom suggests, and most of today’s medical travelers seek high quality and faster service, not lower costs. However, the potential for growth is significant.
March 2008
Executives should examine the impact of trends on subindustries, segments, categories, and micromarkets before placing their bets.
In Nigeria, Kenya, and elsewhere, the private sector already serves more than 40 percent of the people in the lowest economic quintile. With the right investments, it could do even more.
Delos "Toby" Cosgrove discusses innovation in health care—including a key role for top executives to play in reducing the nation’s health care burden.
January 2008
Affordable care, preventive medicine, and healthy behavior must be the pillars of India’s health care reform.
November 2007
Addressing Africa’s health workforce crisis is a formidable task. Yet McKinsey’s experience in the region suggests ways to make headway.
July 2007
Executives should treat them as programs, not products.
June 2007
During the next five years, rapid innovation may restructure the value chain of health care payments and change the sector’s balance of power.
March 2007
To encourage the private sector, governments must learn how to regulate the health care industry appropriately.
More and more, payers are dealing with individual consumers, not companies. They will have to change their products, their mind-sets, and their competencies.
February 2007
A health care system's fundamental problems can be addressed if the decision makers recognize the interlocking nature of its elements.
December 2006
By correcting some flaws, global health partnerships can save even more lives in desperately poor countries.
November 2006
Improving adherence to drug regimens can save lives and reduce health care costs.
July 2006
If governments are to be prepared for a potential avian-flu pandemic, they must bring pharmaceutical companies and health organizations into the strategic-planning process.
June 2006
Executives say employee benefits help companies compete but have an incomplete understanding of benefits and how they perform.
December 2005
The chairman of the largest publicly traded US health benefits company discusses the industry's future.
Progress will be slow until all parties in the health care industry can see clear benefits.
November 2005
Medicare Part D is only the starting point for a far larger opportunity.
The evidence suggests that CDHP members are more value conscious.
September 2005
A renewed effort to train and attract public-health professionals will ease a chronic shortage and improve health care.
August 2005
The shortfall in qualified health care workers could be offset by higher productivity and better recruitment and training.
June 2005
Adopting a product developer's approach to designing a benefits package can help employers get more value from their health care investments.
As the changing landscape offers new opportunities, successful companies will choose one of three roles and invest in new capabilities now.
February 2005
Information networks hold out the promise of improved care and cost savings, but hospitals can’t build them alone.
January 2005
A tax-deferred savings vehicle that is changing the consumer’s mind-set could rein in the rising cost of US health care.
For even the most timid politicians, inaction will soon be more dangerous than action.
August 2004
The head of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Indian initiative on AIDS explains the importance of creating a vast network of public-private partnerships to tackle the problem.
February 2004
In a few years, the average Fortune 500 company may be spending as much on health benefits as it earns in profits. Something’s got to give.
December 2003
Multinationals are directly affected by the global epidemic. It can’t be controlled without them.
December 2001
Taiwan may be the world’s second-healthiest country, but its national health insurance system is facing insolvency. If you want to cover everyone, you can’t cover everything.
November 2001
So far, excessively high costs have torpedoed most plans for managing diseases over time. But emerging technologies could change all that.
February 2001
By developing a low-cost distribution channel, an Indian nonprofit organization can deliver child education and nutrition programs for just a few dollars a child per year.
November 2000
The major medical centers of the United States already have the best brands, the best performance records, and the most customers. The Internet could make these institutions even more successful.
June 2000
McKinsey’s Amsterdam office teamed up with health care experts to find a way of preserving the quality of Holland’s health care system while easing the great strains it faces.
February 1999
The M&A frenzy among HMOs will continue. Either hunt or be hunted. Needed: $2 billion in market cap protection.
November 1996
Doctors and hospitals respond predictably and consistently to their economic incentives. As a result, there are wide variations in how patients get treated in the US, Germany, and the UK.
August 1996
Why margins are becoming risk premiums. Do you understand your exposure? As in banking, risks can be unbundled.
February 1996
The past decade has seen a significant shift in the US health care industry as managed-care segments gained market share. But as the industry continues to transform, a remarkable surge by smaller health-care competitors is taking place.
August 1995
Between March and August 1995, the top 25 HMOs saw market value drop 25 percent, but it’s possible for HMOs to lead consolidation in a favorable direction.
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