Health Care Consultants

Many management consulting firms were founded in the early 20th century, and some provided health care-related consulting to hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, insurance firms, and government agencies at all levels.

In 1965, the creation of Medicare, a national social-insurance program, and Medicaid, a health care program for low-income individuals and families, prompted demand for health care consultants who could provide advice on how to comply with these new programs. In the following decades, medical and technological advances improved life expectancies and expanded treatment options, but they also made the delivery of health care more complex, which prompted even greater demand for health care consultants. The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) has created further growth in the health care consulting field. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services reports that 16.4 million uninsured people gained health coverage from 2010 to 2016 as a result of the passage of the act. Although the act has expanded health insurance coverage and, in some instances, streamlined the delivery of health care, it has also created a variety of challenges for insurance companies, state governments, health care providers, and businesses with 50 or more employees (those that do not provide health insurance to their employees must pay a penalty). These developments have prompted demand for more health care consultants.