HealthContentAdvisors

Follow the Money

• Posted February 26th 2008
• by Janice

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a division of HHS, has come out with a new report that projects that spending on healthcare will increase to $4.3 trillion – that’s trillion with a “t”—by 2017. That translates to 1 in every 5 dollars being spent on healthcare.

The full report, which is available on the Health Affairs website, projects an increase from 46% to 49% of the total to be paid by federal and state governments, as the baby boomers become eligible for Medicare.  That still leaves over $2 trillion in consumer spending. With that many dollars at stake, one thing is certain: advertisers will be targeting those consumer dollars.

So it is no wonder that there has been a surge in the number of consumer healthcare portals that stand ready to accept these ad dollars. Their current focus is on pharmaceutical companies as they transfer a growing percentage of their approximately $5 billion annual consumer ad budgets online. There’s no doubt that pharma ad budgets could fund quite a few consumer health portals. But, pharma companies aren’t the only potential advertisers. Medical device vendors factor in, too. Plus, with the growing demand for quality and cost data to help inform healthcare decisions, expect to see more medical practitioners (not just plastic surgeons!) and provider institutions, including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and home health providers promoting themselves online.