CEO of CVS warns there’s a Medicare ‘tsunami’ heading for the U.S.

“We’re thinking about how do we engage people that are now using technology in various ways, so that people have a connected and seamless experience for the ultimate goal of making Americans healthy,” Lynch says. 

Engagement as the key to improving provider-patient relationships is a timely priority, Lynch says, as the number of Americans 65 and older will more than double in the next 40 years, according to the Urban Institute. 

“There’s like a tsunami of people coming into Medicare,” Lynch says, underscoring the growing aging population that is on track to outnumber children. “That’s going to put pressure on the entire health care system.”

This tsunami will stress the system, but Lynch says intervening with patients through preventative care will keep people healthier as they age. Extending the services offered within primary care will help people feel comfortable interacting with their provider more regularly, Lynch says. When patients do so, “we’ve seen better outcomes as a result,” she says.

Rodriguez adds he hopes the 40,000 providers in his company will develop a relationship with the people to whom they give care. “When a patient is as sick as our patient population is, you want to comfort them and make sure they have that relationship,” he says.  

The solution

Lynch says two things will address the growing demand for care and increase engagement: value-based care and technology. 

Value-based care can improve patient outcomes even as more people are turning to virtual health since the outset of the pandemic. Lynch announced that tele-mental-health visits rose from 9,000 before the pandemic to nearly 20 million today. 

Innovation in health care technology can also bolster early detection of chronic conditions and center prevention over treatment. 

For example, Lynch says her teams are honing in on integrating health care technology in the home so people can prioritize their health as part of their daily life.