The health care industry will be at the crossroads of several trends in 2025: demographics, proposed Medicare changes, staffing constraints, AI innovations, and deregulation.
Demographics will determine the demand for health care services, while Medicare changes, staffing constraints, and technology will determine the supply of these services. Together, these trends will determine the quantity and quality of industry growth in the new year.
Ben Johnston, chief operating officer of Kapitus, sees favorable demographics and innovative treatments driving health care industry growth in the new year.
“We continue to be bullish on the health care industry as the macro forces of an aging U.S. population and new treatment innovations make health care an attractive industry in 2025 and beyond,” Johnston told The Epoch Times.
However, he sees proposed changes to Medicare that would give the states more control of the program and proposed work requirements in exchange for coverage limiting the total number of insured, thus constraining demand for health care services.
In addition, Johnston believes staffing shortages across the industry are exacerbated by limits on immigration, constraining the supply of health care services.
“Reducing future legal immigration could pose a significant challenge to the industry and drive both prices and wait times higher,” he said.
Thomas Kluz, the managing director of Venture Lab, is also concerned about staffing constraints in 2025 for different reasons.
“The pandemic, system inefficiencies, and wage cuts continued to be a present burden on health care workers on top of their drained physical and mental health,” Kluz told The Epoch Times.
He thinks AI technology could help ease the situation.
“AI and automation will be key to taking some of this pressure off by reducing administrative burdens,” he said.
For Dr. Ofer Sharon, CEO at OncoHost, the use of AI in health care and life sciences, such as machine learning and advanced image processing, will significantly drive the health care industry’s growth in the new year.
“For instance, in drug discovery, 2025 may see the first AI-discovered or AI-designed therapeutic targets progressing to first-in-human clinical trials,” he told The Epoch Times via email.
“At the same time, AI-powered diagnostic tools are expected to gain wider adoption in clinical settings, contributing to improved diagnostic accuracy and more personalized patient care.”
Pradeep Kumar Jain, senior director of health care at Tredence Inc., sees care shifting to telehealth, home care, and ambulatory care, making it more accessible and focused on patients.
“These models ensure people get timely and convenient care while improving coordination across different settings,” he told The Epoch Times via email. “Value-based care focuses on prevention rather than treatment, addressing health issues earlier.”
Dr. Stacey Lee, a professor of health care and business law at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and Bloomberg School of Public Health, sees the prospect of changing rules and choices in the health care industry to improve access to services and rein in costs.
“The projected 8 percent rise in health care costs next year will force providers and patients to rethink how care is delivered and paid for,” he told The Epoch Times.
“My work with health care organizations shows that direct primary care isn’t just another payment model—it fundamentally changes how doctors and patients work together. When we strip away layers of billing complexity, we often find that quality and efficiency improve.”
Lee believes that the soaring health care costs will reshape the demand for and supply of health care services, with price transparency becoming a critical factor for the functioning of health care markets.
“My research in health care negotiations shows that when patients can compare prices, it doesn’t just help them make better choices,” he said. “It changes how health care organizations compete and set their prices. The incoming administration’s emphasis on transparency could accelerate these changes.”
If that turns out to be the case, transparency will test how well health care markets balance efficiency with patient protection.
“In my work studying health care law, I’ve seen that successful deregulation requires understanding which rules truly protect patients and which ones just add cost without benefit,” Lee said.
