The healthcare industry today isn’t undergoing an evolution. It’s in the throes of a full-blown revolution.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (AKA healthcare reform) is dramatically reshaping the whole landscape of American healthcare—a reality that marketers will have to adapt to, regardless of which way the Supreme Court wind blows.

If the individual mandate stands, it’s estimated that more than 32 million uninsured—many of them high-risk—will be in the market for health insurance. And carriers faced with guaranteed issue will have to look to other lines of business to offset the higher cost of covering a high-risk pool.

But that’s not all. During the next few years:

• Subsidized programs offered by newly created insurance exchanges will bring even greater competition to the marketplace
• As much as 30% of employers are expected to drop their group coverage
• The federal government will reduce Medicare spending by $100 million, pushing Medicare Advantage, PMP and Med Sup programs to their limits

All of this comes at a time when the way consumers research and buy health insurance has been completely transformed by digital and social media. These days, it’s not what you say about your products and services that matters—it’s the opinion of friends, family and third-party endorsers that carries the day.

As a marketer, you can’t help but wonder which way is up.

How can you optimize your Medicare acquisition programs, squeeze more profit from your small group and individual businesses, and support all your sales channels on the one hand, while inspiring personal health engagement, increasing loyalty and reducing churn on the other?

It’s a tall order.