A recent Global Life and Health Reinsurance Market report outlining strong and opportunistic growth may be music to many investors and those working in health care and health-related industries. A truly “healthy” market, however, has to benefit society, not just captains of industry and investors. 

Among the factors bolstering market growth cited in the report are “rising healthcare costs” – not good news to the U.S. consumer. 

Dr. Yacov Geva, CEO of G Medical Innovations, subscribes to a health care thesis held up by four simple but important pillars: 

• As the U.S. population continues to age and thus have more health issues, health care costs will continue their upward spiral.
• Patients typically fare better in their own home environment than in a healthcare facility.
• Home health care costs our government less than the system currently in place. 
• Home testing and monitoring can lead to a healthier society.

An aging population means rising health care costs. Policy makers and health care advisors have been telling us this for years. An aging baby boomer population and a longer life expectancy, as well as medical breakthroughs for diseases and ailments – but not cures – all add up to increased health care costs. 

Patients typically fare better in their own home environment than in a healthcare facility. We all know the risks of being exposed to germs and illnesses in a clinic or hospital setting and the pandemic outlined the stark reality of that. Additionally, at least one study found that patients “hospitalized” at home were less sedentary, and readmission rates were drastically reduced. 

Home health care costs our government less than the system currently in place. Private health insurance covers a lot of medical care in this country – 2020 figures put it at almost 28% -- but that’s not as much as the 36.4% for Medicare and Medicaid combined. There are also other various government programs in the payor mix that are sharing the financial burden of rising health care costs. 

Home testing and monitoring can lead to a healthier society. Providing society with accessible, reliable, easy-to-use and affordable home health test kits means they can find out if they have a health condition earlier, and if it’s contagious – such as with COVID or monkeypox – their exposure to the public is reduced. Physicians can send patients home with home monitoring tools, removing any pressure physicians may receive from insurance companies not to hospitalize them or to discharge them earlier. It also frees them up to treat more patients. Finally, testing in the privacy of one’s own home, particularly for things like sexually transmitted diseases, can lead to more testing, more and earlier treatment, and less transmission. 

While not necessarily fortuitous, the COVID-19 pandemic tested our home health capabilities, as well as our acceptance. Even typically rigid government controls and regulations accommodated the need with atypical agility. 

“We have the infrastructure in place for continued success in home health care,” said Dr. Geva.

G Medical Tests and Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of G Medical Innovations, aims to provide as many home test kits as possible, as affordably as possible. 

“We’ve been in the home health monitoring business for 30 years, so expanding our expertise to developing reliable home test kits was a natural and symbiotic move for us,” said Dr. Geva. “It eases the burden on all players within the system, while benefiting the patient. 

“Home health care works; it’s accepted by patients and physicians alike; and it prioritizes patient care even as investors and other market players benefit,” he said. “It’s truly a win-win.”