EW ORLEANS, April 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- And the winner is…Mary Furlong and Associates puts the spotlight on the thought leaders and entrepreneurs in the $7.6 trillion longevity economy by announcing this year's Leadership Longevity Award winners and showcasing the four finalists in the What's Next Innovation Challenge at the 16th annual What's Next Boomer Business Summit conference here on April 18.
You may have seen that rechargeable hearing aid commercial. What was most striking about the commercial to a hearing industry outsider is the upfront commentary on what sounded like the predatory price of hearing aids – providers “charge whatever they can get.” Several interesting aspects to that commercial – but the most interesting was that comment. Who is ‘they’, how much can they ‘get’, and is there insurance that pays for them? This is in an era where hearing aids have evolved to incorporate embedded AI, fall detection, direct connections for phone calls, and numerous other features and functions.
Startup opportunities abound in the new world of tech assisted aging.
As the average life expectancy rises, a massive shift in the demographics of aging is having profound effects throughout the economy. The 50+ year-old population today controls almost 80% of US aggregate net worth. Increasingly tech savvy, this group spends more money online than Gen X and Gen Y consumers combined. As women and men alike redefine expectations for later life, they are leveraging their health and wealth in ways that were unimaginable only a few years ago.
Should we expect change from aging-related tech policy initiatives? The answer is yes. Many are chosen, ideas are circulated from a long list of participants -- good ideas are collected and then the initiative is disbanded. Maybe it is because the government changes a year later, but the net result is that recommendations appear, but measurements of status or success may not. A good example from the past 3 years: the PCAST report, summarized in an ASA publication by David Lindeman: 'Independence, Technology, and Connection in Older Age." A prior report recommending change in the hearing technology industry may have contributed to or encouraged the sale of PSAPs and the introduction in 2018 sale of over-the-counter hearing aids – and may have encouraged additional categories of hearing aids and the growth of interest in 'hearables.’ So to the degree that there is a connection, that’s a good outcome.
2019 Technology Market Overview is online this week. When assembling the 2019 tenth anniversary version, it was apparent that this year reflects change -- in the supply-demand balance in the overbuilt senior housing market, in policy changes driving health care services into the home, in market forecasts, and in the mix of vendors who serve the market. It's in many ways a good-news/bad-news story. Awareness is growing about an aging demographic, working longer and with longer life expectancy than previous generations. At the same time, the technology market continues to expand in complexity, privacy and interoperability issues, while not effectively lowering cost of access or prices of useful devices -- and not necessarily boosting the availability of training on their benefits or use. Here are four updated premises from the 2019 Market Overview of Technology for Older Adults:
You may have seen that rechargeable hearing aid commercial. What was most striking about the 
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