I speak from the sidelines, where consultants and advisors are reading the tea leaves and trying to decide what to tell clients  – today – which might be different than what they said last week and different than what they are going to say next week.

One consultant for the pharmaceutical industry told me a few weeks ago that his very sophisticated clients and their very high-priced advisors are trying to hang on to the old solutions, while a new reality is nipping at their heels. Government pricing of drugs/doctors/medical devices/health plans is here. It is a game-changer and for those who have been sitting around the game board for awhile, and they wonder if this is where they hear “check” or the final “checkmate.”