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Health Care Just Became the U.S.'s Largest Employer

Greenbeard

Greenbeard

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No idea how I missed this in January, given that it seems lately I'm always up on my soapbox on this one. But it's a big deal.

Health Care Just Became the U.S.'s Largest Employer

If you're concerned about health care spending, this is the issue that needs to be grappled with:

B4G4XGg6qKmgXcazeLps3y3mIgwK466JkriPVvV9evZZ7CUWoBiaSJQtQc5Ou-zH85gx_Fbzw5IlCCkiTncEMaLGfWB5XZwpirOoUGBm4J7HTA7D8D59QQh0NnOM8mFeYjW69Ohv


To date jobs in health care have been relatively safe and reliable. And always, always growing.

This public support makes health-care employment practically invincible, even during the worst downturns. Incredibly, health-care employment increased every month during the Great Recession.
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Health care is largely un-outsource-able and notoriously sluggish in productivity growth (i.e., it doesn't shed people very often)--which goes back to the point above.

Third, the two most destabilizing forces for labor in the last generation have been globalization and automation. Together, they have hurt manufacturing and retail by offshoring factories, replacing human arms with robotic limbs, and dooming fusty department stores. But health care is substantially resistant to both. While globalization has revolutionized supply chains and created a global market for manufacturing labor, most health care is local. A Connecticut dentist isn’t selling her services to Portugal, and a physician’s receptionist in Lisbon isn’t directing her patient to Stamford. Health-care work has, so far, been generally resistant to automation, too. While artificial intelligence may one day take over radiology, while programmable robots replace brain surgeons, that future isn’t quite here yet.
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And it's not just doctors or other clinicians, it's regular people working white-collar jobs.

Recently, the growth in health-care employment is stemming more from administrative jobs than physician jobs. The number of non-doctor workers in the health industry has exploded in the last two decades. The majority of these jobs aren’t clinical roles, like registered nurses. They are mostly administrative and management jobs, including receptionists and office clerks.
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And there's no end in sight.

This isn’t the end of health care’s run. It’s just the beginning. Of the 10 jobs that the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects will see the fastest percent growth in the next decade, five are in health care and elderly assistance. The two fastest-growing occupations—personal-care aides (who perform non-medical duties for older Americans, such as bathing) and home-health aides, (who help the elderly with medical care)—are projected to account for one in every 10 new jobs in that time. The entire health-care sector is projected to account for a third of all new employment.
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It's very hard to cut spending when that spending is largely in the form of reliable paychecks to middle class workers, often in towns that don't have a lot of alternative occupational categories.

This is perhaps the predicament of our time. Certainly when it comes to health policy.
 
Greenbeard said:
No idea how I missed this in January, given that it seems lately I'm always up on my soapbox on this one. But it's a big deal.

Health Care Just Became the U.S.'s Largest Employer

If you're concerned about health care spending, this is the issue that needs to be grappled with:

B4G4XGg6qKmgXcazeLps3y3mIgwK466JkriPVvV9evZZ7CUWoBiaSJQtQc5Ou-zH85gx_Fbzw5IlCCkiTncEMaLGfWB5XZwpirOoUGBm4J7HTA7D8D59QQh0NnOM8mFeYjW69Ohv


To date jobs in health care have been relatively safe and reliable. And always, always growing.



Health care is largely un-outsource-able and notoriously sluggish in productivity growth (i.e., it doesn't shed people very often)--which goes back to the point above.



And it's not just doctors or other clinicians, it's regular people working white-collar jobs.



And there's no end in sight.



It's very hard to cut spending when that spending is largely in the form of reliable paychecks to middle class workers, often in towns that don't have a lot of alternative occupational categories.

This is perhaps the predicament of our time. Certainly when it comes to health policy.
Click to expand...


See, if we had left the blue line to continue upwards, all 3 lines would most likely be in proportion. But somebody opened the gate for China to ruin our blue line ...
 
Minimum 100 dollars per person a month mandatory bare scraps insurance. I wonder where all the money came from?
 
We spend more on healthcare than any other nation, and according to the AMA something like $3.5 Trillion for 2017 with an expectation of a 5% or more increase for 2018 (meaning the rise is still greater than inflation.)

And we are surprised that healthcare ends up employing this much... why?
 
How does that line align with population increase?
 
KevinKohler said:
How does that line align with population increase?
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I think it has more to do with the rise in the median age of the US popualtion from 30 in 1980 to 37.9 today (a 33% increase). More older and fatter (obesity drives up medical care cost a lot) folks are driving up the total costs of medical care faster than general inflation or population growth.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/241494/median-age-of-the-us-population/

https://infogram.com/us-adult-obesity-rates-since-1960-1gzxop49on65mwy
 
Greenbeard said:
Health care is largely un-outsource-able and notoriously sluggish in productivity growth (i.e., it doesn't shed people very often)--which goes back to the point above.
Click to expand...

Healthcare, like government, produces nothing of value.

Greenbeard said:
Recently, the growth in health-care employment is stemming more from administrative jobs than physician jobs. The number of non-doctor workers in the health industry has exploded in the last two decades. The majority of these jobs aren’t clinical roles, like registered nurses. They are mostly administrative and management jobs, including receptionists and office clerks
Click to expand...
.

And it's not just doctors or other clinicians, it's regular people working white-collar jobs.
Click to expand...

The largest problem and obstacle is the fact that the US insists upon using the antiquated Hospital Model for delivery of healthcare services. It is grotesquely inefficient, and generates large numbers of administrative jobs.

As the former German Minister of Health explains:

Polyclinics—clusters of general practitioners who work together to form more specialized primary care centers—were used extensively and quite successfully in the former German Democratic Republic.

However, many politicians in West Germany initially disliked the idea of polyclinics because they associated them with communist ideology. It took a while for many people to understand that polyclinics offer significant advantages with regard to communication, coordination, and cooperation.

Source: How Germany is reining in health care costs: An interview with Franz Knieps pp 30-31.

The two corollaries of Capitalism are Diversification & Specialization.

How ironic that was East Bloc States that abandoned the outdated Hospital Model in favor of the Polyclinic Model, to both Diversify & Specialize and provide increased and enhanced efficiency in healthcare delivery.

So long as the US continues to the antiquated Hospital Model, Americans will continue to waste healthcare dollars.
 
The fact that they can cure and fix so many things today in comparison to years ago. My grandfather had 8 heart attacks before he died. Not a single thing was done to solve the problem. Each time he laid in the hospital and either got better or died. My uncle needed a hip replacement but they didn't do them then instead he got a wheel chair. My other grandfather died from colon cancer. Again no colonoscopy, no prevention, no cure you just went to the hospital and after a few days you died.

With all the preventive procedures and all the different surgeries that can fix or cure problems it should be a no brainer that health care is much bigger industry today than before.

Now bang for your buck is another problem all together. If you want cheaper health care you have to accept risk as well.

My first couple of stiches in my finger back in the 70's by my local doctor took all of 10 minutes and cost $20. which my mom paid cash.

In the 1990's a couple of stiches in my hand at a med clinic took all of 15 minutes and cost me $75. which my insurance paid.

In 2016 I got a couple of stiches in my thumb. I had to go to several different places because I couldn't get waited on. My family doctor could get me an appointment in 2 weeks. The hospital sent me to Urgent car. I sat in a waiting room for over 3hrs. The 2 stiches were considered a surgical procedure that cost $600. of which my insurance would only pay 400. $200 was out of pocket.

The next time I need a couple of stiches I may have to mortgage my home.
 
Mircea said:
So long as the US continues to the antiquated Hospital Model, Americans will continue to waste healthcare dollars.
Click to expand...

Hospital care accounts for 32% of national health expenditures in the United States vs 30% in Germany.

Regardless, the U.S. has been shifting toward outpatient services for years.

From the WSJ last month: What the Hospitals of the Future Look Like
The days of the hospital as we know it may be numbered.

In a shift away from their traditional inpatient facilities, health-care providers are investing in outpatient clinics, same-day surgery centers, free-standing emergency rooms and microhospitals, which offer as few as eight beds for overnight stays. They are setting up programs that monitor people 24/7 in their own homes. And they are turning to digital technology to treat and keep tabs on patients remotely from a high-tech hub.
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There were also more hospital closings than openings over the four years ending in 2015, with nearly half of those converting to outpatient-only facilities. Hospitals have continued to close their doors, especially in rural areas, and a spate of mergers will speed consolidation.
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To offer services and expand in locales where it doesn’t make sense to build a new hospital, health systems are building free-standing emergency rooms and microhospitals, commonly called neighborhood hospitals. The scope of services varies, but microhospitals usually include emergency rooms and beds for short-stay recovery.
Click to expand...
 
PIPEWRENCH said:
The fact that they can cure and fix so many things today in comparison to years ago. My grandfather had 8 heart attacks before he died. Not a single thing was done to solve the problem. Each time he laid in the hospital and either got better or died. My uncle needed a hip replacement but they didn't do them then instead he got a wheel chair. My other grandfather died from colon cancer. Again no colonoscopy, no prevention, no cure you just went to the hospital and after a few days you died.

With all the preventive procedures and all the different surgeries that can fix or cure problems it should be a no brainer that health care is much bigger industry today than before.

Now bang for your buck is another problem all together. If you want cheaper health care you have to accept risk as well.

My first couple of stiches in my finger back in the 70's by my local doctor took all of 10 minutes and cost $20. which my mom paid cash.

In the 1990's a couple of stiches in my hand at a med clinic took all of 15 minutes and cost me $75. which my insurance paid.

In 2016 I got a couple of stiches in my thumb. I had to go to several different places because I couldn't get waited on. My family doctor could get me an appointment in 2 weeks. The hospital sent me to Urgent car. I sat in a waiting room for over 3hrs. The 2 stiches were considered a surgical procedure that cost $600. of which my insurance would only pay 400. $200 was out of pocket.

The next time I need a couple of stiches I may have to mortgage my home.
Click to expand...

Its kinda like pet care, now. They've got all kinds of treatments for pets, and the cost is more than most will spend on a new car. For pets.
 
PIPEWRENCH said:
The fact that they can cure and fix so many things today in comparison to years ago. My grandfather had 8 heart attacks before he died. Not a single thing was done to solve the problem. Each time he laid in the hospital and either got better or died. My uncle needed a hip replacement but they didn't do them then instead he got a wheel chair. My other grandfather died from colon cancer. Again no colonoscopy, no prevention, no cure you just went to the hospital and after a few days you died.

With all the preventive procedures and all the different surgeries that can fix or cure problems it should be a no brainer that health care is much bigger industry today than before.

Now bang for your buck is another problem all together. If you want cheaper health care you have to accept risk as well.

My first couple of stiches in my finger back in the 70's by my local doctor took all of 10 minutes and cost $20. which my mom paid cash.

In the 1990's a couple of stiches in my hand at a med clinic took all of 15 minutes and cost me $75. which my insurance paid.

In 2016 I got a couple of stiches in my thumb. I had to go to several different places because I couldn't get waited on. My family doctor could get me an appointment in 2 weeks. The hospital sent me to Urgent car. I sat in a waiting room for over 3hrs. The 2 stiches were considered a surgical procedure that cost $600. of which my insurance would only pay 400. $200 was out of pocket.

The next time I need a couple of stiches I may have to mortgage my home.
Click to expand...

or duct tape it.
 
Healthcare is a lucrative big business now. Pretty sad in my opinion.
 
Greenbeard said:
No idea how I missed this in January, given that it seems lately I'm always up on my soapbox on this one. But it's a big deal.

Health Care Just Became the U.S.'s Largest Employer

If you're concerned about health care spending, this is the issue that needs to be grappled with:

B4G4XGg6qKmgXcazeLps3y3mIgwK466JkriPVvV9evZZ7CUWoBiaSJQtQc5Ou-zH85gx_Fbzw5IlCCkiTncEMaLGfWB5XZwpirOoUGBm4J7HTA7D8D59QQh0NnOM8mFeYjW69Ohv


To date jobs in health care have been relatively safe and reliable. And always, always growing.



Health care is largely un-outsource-able and notoriously sluggish in productivity growth (i.e., it doesn't shed people very often)--which goes back to the point above.



And it's not just doctors or other clinicians, it's regular people working white-collar jobs.



And there's no end in sight.



It's very hard to cut spending when that spending is largely in the form of reliable paychecks to middle class workers, often in towns that don't have a lot of alternative occupational categories.

This is perhaps the predicament of our time. Certainly when it comes to health policy.
Click to expand...

And yet... there are calls to hurt the industry that's growing US jobs and US salaries.

Kind of fascinating isn't it? We bail out industries that have screwed the pooch.

And we try to constrain an industry that's growing because of spiking demand. AND one that is made up of a lot of non profits and accounts for jobs and good salaries.
 
It was bad BEFORE mandatory healthcare.

How many people had insurance before mandatory healthcare? 10%?

How many have mandatory healthcare now? 80-90%?

When you give them a forced gold rush what do you think is gonna happen?

The same happened with mandatory car insurance, the law made it mandatory and the insurance rubbed their little fingers together and raised the prices.

60% of Americans have less than 500 dollars in savings.

And its not cuz our healthcare "is so amazing" we still have one of the highest rates of misdiagnosis in the world.

They will charge you 3 grand for a an ambulance ride and 300 bucks to wrap ur ankle and give you Tylenol.
 
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