Tag: "Hospitals"

Health Construction Declined in January, Robust Year on Year

Census2The construction market was weak overall in January, especially in health facilities, where construction starts declined 1.6 percent from December. Other construction starts declined only 1.0 percent. Health facilities construction accounted for just under six percent of the value of all new nonresidential construction.

Construction of private health facilities dropped 0.2 percent, versus an increase of 0.3 percent for private non-health facilities. Private health facilities construction starts accounted for over seven percent of private nonresidential construction starts. Construction of public health facilities dropped by 6.6 percent. However, construction of other public facilities dropped by 4.9 percent. In other words, the decline in health facilities construction was 0.4 percentage points worse than the change in non-health private construction, versus 1.7 percentage points worse than non-health public construction (Table I).

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Mar 01, 2017 | Leave a Comment | by

Repealing Obamacare Will Improve California’s Job Market

Confident Doctors(A version of this Health Alert was published by the Orange County Register.)

Obamacare was a cash cow for providers, which now argue it was a program for jobs and economic growth. They now say that repealing Obamacare will kill California jobs. That grabs any politician’s attention, but it is not true.

According to a study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center, which is promoted by the California Hospital Association:

“The majority (135,000) of these lost jobs would be in the health care industry, including at hospitals, doctor offices, labs, outpatient and ambulatory care centers, nursing homes, dentist offices, other health care settings and insurers. But jobs would also be lost in other industries. Suppliers of the health care industry, such as food service, janitorial and accounting firms, would experience reduced demand, leading to job loss. The lost jobs also include those lost due to the ‘induced effect’ of health care workers spending less at restaurants, retail stores and other local businesses.”

Such research relies on the so-called “multiplier effect,” a politically seductive but misleading type of voodoo economics.

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Feb 17, 2017 | 7 comments | by

Health Construction Picked Up in December

Census2Health facilities construction turned around in December, growing 0.6 percent versus a decline of 0.3 percent in starts for other construction. Health facilities construction accounted for almost 6 percent of non-residential construction starts. However, the growth was all in private health facilities.

Construction of private health facilities grew 1.2 percent, versus an increase of 0.2 percent for private non-health facilities. Private health facilities construction starts accounted for less than 4 percent of private nonresidential construction starts. Construction of public health facilities dropped by 1.5 percent. However, construction of other public facilities dropped by even more, 1.8 percent. In other words, health facilities construction outpaced non-health construction by 1.0 percentage points in the private construction market, versus only 0.3 percentage points in the public construction market (Table I).

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Feb 02, 2017 | 1 comment | by

Drop in Health Facilities Construction Continues in November

Census2October’s construction trend continued in November. Overall, health facilities construction starts declined 0.1 percent, versus an increase of 0.9 percent for other construction. Health facilities construction accounted for almost 6 percent of non-residential construction starts. However, there was greater gap between health and non-health starts in private than public construction.

Construction of private health facilities dropped 0.2 percent, versus an increase of 1.0 percent for private non-health facilities. Private health facilities construction starts accounted for less than 4 percent of private nonresidential construction starts. Construction of public health facilities increased by 0.4 percent, while construction of public non-health facilities increased 0.8 percent. In other words, non-health facilities construction outpaced health construction by 1.2 percentage points in the private construction market, versus only 0.4 percentage points in the public construction market.

For the twelve months ending last October, there was a significant difference in trend between private and public construction. Non-health private construction increased 4.3 percent, but private health facilities construction dropped 1.5 percent. On the other hand, non-health facilities public construction increased 2.6 percent, while public health facilities construction increased by 2.9 percent.

This suggests private investors are nervous about future revenue growth in hospitals and other facilities.

See Table I below the fold:

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Jan 03, 2017 | Leave a Comment | by

QSS: Health Services Revenue Slides; Hospital Profits Drop

This morning’s Quarterly Services Survey (QSS), published by the Census Bureau, showed a decline in revenues for most health services. Overall, revenue shrank 1.5 percent in the third quarter. However, growth versus Q3 2015 was a strong 5.4 percent and YTD growth is up 5.7 percent.Only outpatient care centers, home health services, other ambulatory services, and specialty hospitals reported growth. Revenue at psychiatric hospitals has grown 16.3 percent, Q3 2016 versus Q3 2015, a remarkable growth which I cannot explain. General hospitals’ revenues have finally begun to shrunk, suggesting they have maximized their Obamacare business opportunities.

See Table I below the fold:

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Dec 08, 2016 | 1 comment | by

Significant Drop in Health Facilities Construction in October

Census2Construction of health facilities slowed in October, while other construction increased a little. Overall, health facilities construction starts declined 3.1 percent, versus an increase of 0.7 percent for other construction. Health facilities construction accounted for almost 6 percent of non-residential construction starts. However, while both private and public health facilities construction both declined, there was divergence between private and public non-health construction.

Construction of private health facilities dropped 3.3 percent, versus a drop of 2.1 percent for public health facilities. Private health facilities construction starts accounted for almost 8 percent of private nonresidential construction starts. Construction of private non-health facilities declined by 2.0 percent, while construction of public non-health facilities increased 2.9 percent. It looks like the government has finally pulled back spending on public and VA hospitals.

(See Table I below the fold.)

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Dec 01, 2016 | 2 comments | by

PPI: Health Prices Tame, Inflation Flat

BLSOctober’s Producer Price Index was flat. However, prices for most health goods and services grew slowly, if at all. Seven of the 15 price indices for health goods and services declined. The major exception was prices for dental care, which increased 1.5 percent. Dental care is dominated neither by government nor private insurance, so dental price increases are not explained by NCPA’s usual theory of health inflation. I addressed dental price increases in a previous article.

Prices of pharmaceutical preparations for final demand increased 0.4 percent, but that was in line with all goods for final demand. Prices for construction of both health facilities and other buildings increased 0.7 percent. This bears closer watching as President-elect Trump promises more spending on infrastructure, including hospitals.

Prices of health goods for intermediate demand, especially medicinal and botanical chemicals, and biological products, actually dropped. Perhaps this will flow through to prices of pharmaceutical products but that has not previously been the case.

Over the last twelve months, prices of health goods and services have increased faster than overall PPI, which grew 0.8 percent. The tables are turned: 12 of 15 health categories experienced larger price increases than PPI did. Pharmaceutical preparations continue to stand out dramatically, having grown 8.4 percent.

(See Table I below the fold.)

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Nov 17, 2016 | 1 comment | by

Divergence in Private Versus Public Health Facilities Construction Continues in September

Census2Construction of health facilities slowed in September, along with other construction. Overall, health facilities construction starts declined 0.3 percent in September, versus a drop of 0.4 percent for other construction. Health facilities construction accounted for 6 percent of non-residential construction starts. However, the divergence between private and public continued.

Construction of private health facilities dropped 1.0 percent, versus a drop of 0.2 percent for other private construction. Private health facilities construction starts accounted for almost 8 percent of private nonresidential construction starts. Construction of public health facilities increased a whopping 2.4 percent, versus a drop of 1.0 percent for other public construction. Is this what they mean by “infrastructure” spending – broken bridges and roads, while more VA and county hospitals spring up?

(See Table I below the fold.)

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Nov 01, 2016 | Leave a Comment | by

California’s Public Option Would Not Rescue Obamacare

jones(A version of this Health Alert was published by the Orange County Register.)

Dave Jones, California’s Insurance Commissioner, has lifted a page from Hillary Clinton’s playbook for the rescue of Obamacare – the so-called “public option.” The public option would probably look at lot like Medicaid. Its proponents give it a less pejorative name to lull people into a false sense of confidence that the market for private health insurance would not be harmed more than it already has by Obamacare. However, the public option would surely lead to more of the same problems Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid program) has experienced – poor access to care and exploding costs to taxpayers.

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Oct 26, 2016 | 6 comments | by

California’s Surprise Medical Bill Law Papers Over A Systemic Problem

Doctors Rushing Patient down Hall(A version of this Health Alert was published by Fox & Hounds.)

Insured patients who go into hospital for scheduled surgery are often shocked to find they owe bills well beyond what they expected to pay, especially if they understood the hospital and surgeon to be in their health plan’s network. The problem usually occurs when an anesthesiologist or other specialist involved in the procedure is not in the insurer’s network. Until now, when it came to the amount the out-of-network specialist could charge, the sky was the limit. A recent Consumers Union survey found nearly one third of Americans who had hospital visits or surgery in the past two years were charged an out-of-network fee when they thought all care was in-network.

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Oct 19, 2016 | 13 comments | by
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