The most significant issue facing the industry today is rising healthcare costs. In most countries, healthcare costs already consume a significant share of economic activity and are rising faster than overall economic growth. Rising healthcare costs are a result of four important factors. The first factor is aging populations.

As people live longer, there's increasing demand for healthcare related to cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and central nervous system disorders such as alzheimer's disease and dementia. The second factor is escalating chronic illnesses. Unhealthy lifestyles and environmental pollution are leading to a significant growth in chronic illnesses around the world, including obesity, cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, and respiratory diseases. Advances in medical technology and drugs are a third factor behind rising healthcare costs. Ongoing advances in medical technology and drugs continue to improve healthcare. However, new technology and treatments are often more expensive than previous technology and treatments at least initially. 

The 4th factor involves structural inefficiencies in healthcare systems and can include payment models in which providers are paid on a fee for service basis, creating a financial incentive for providers to schedule unnecessary appointments, tests, and procedures. Structural inefficiencies include the dominant role of government creating a highly bureaucratic infrastructure. This leads to expensive and burdensome claims and payment processing and makes it difficult to detect fraud. 

There Is a Better Way America: Health Sharing