Analyst says millions of people will lose health insurance under Trump law
The Congressional Budget Office says President Donald Trump’s tax cut law will make health insurance more expensive for millions of people and raise ACA premiums.
The health care industry led the nation in job growth in September, continuing a month-long trend of resisting economic headwinds.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the health care field added 43,000 jobs in September, or about 1 in 3 job openings in the U.S. that month. The long-awaited jobs report, due for release on November 20, had been postponed due to the month-long federal government shutdown.
The country added 23,000 jobs in ambulatory health services. This field includes physician and dental offices, laboratories, home health services, and other outpatient medical services. Hospitals added 16,000 more jobs in September.
Social assistance, which includes personal and family services, local food and housing, child care, vocational rehabilitation, and emergency and other relief services, added an additional 14,000 jobs in September.
Three months of BLS data released before the September report showed health care added about 114,000 jobs and social assistance added about 63,000 jobs. In other words, health care and social assistance accounted for about three-quarters of employment during that three-month period.
Why does healthcare create so many jobs?
Robert Kastner, an economist and research professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, said both an aging population and the nation’s high rates of chronic disease are driving job growth in the health care industry.
People require medical services at doctors’ offices, clinics, and hospitals, and often take prescription drugs to manage chronic health conditions.
“We have a growing population of older people in our country, and we have more people of all ages with chronic illnesses, so more people are suffering from more illnesses,” Kaestner said.
The United States spends more on health care than any other country, another factor driving job growth in the industry. The investment will also spur innovation in new treatments for cancer, heart disease, obesity and more, Kaestner said.
The U.S. health care system is primarily funded by a combination of government health insurance programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act, and employers who provide insurance to working-age Americans.
These federal health programs, employers, and consumers support private hospitals, clinics, clinics, and other health care employers. And those private health care providers employ workers to provide the services patients and consumers demand.
The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts that the nation’s physician shortage could reach up to 86,000 by 2036. In addition to doctors, demand for other health care providers such as nurses, physician assistants, and pharmacists is rapidly increasing.
Patients seeking specialized care often face long wait times for appointments due to staffing shortages. As an example, consumers seeking IVF face barriers such as cost and access to care.
In vitro fertilization involves a technique in which eggs and sperm are combined to form embryos in a laboratory. Dr. Paul Magarelli, clinical director of the IVF Academy, said demand for infertility treatments is surging as many states require insurance coverage for infertility treatments and more infertility clinics are opening.
Magarelli said more Americans may seek infertility treatment after the Trump administration pressured drug companies to lower the prices of key fertility drugs.
However, a lack of doctors trained to handle IVF services can delay fertility treatment. The IVF Academy is an emerging organization seeking to address the shortage by training gynecologists who can provide in vitro fertilization services on par with specialists called reproductive endocrinologists.
“Access to IVF in the United States is among the lowest in the world based on population,” Magarelli said. “We are under-serving this population.”
Contributor: Rachel Barber
