Tag Archives: employment

Health Alerts

Repealing Obamacare Will Create Jobs

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index1(A version of this Health Alert was published by InsideSources.com and widely syndicated in local newspapers.)

Obamacare channeled billions of dollars out of the productive economy and diverted it towards a health-services sector that has become even more bloated than it was before 2010.

Last July, Dr. Bob Kocher, a venture capitalist who served as a special assistant to President Obama when the Affordable Care Act was created, noted that more than half of all health care workers today are administrators, up from just over a third before Obamacare became law.

These are paper pushers, not doctors and nurses—not the kind of jobs we should be bragging about. Continue reading Repealing Obamacare Will Create Jobs →

Health Care Costs

Slow Growth, Downward Revision in Health Jobs

blsLast month’s job report showed an explosion in health jobs versus non-health jobs. Revisions to previous data in this morning’s very strong jobs report indicate those data were not correct.

Health jobs increased only 0.12 percent in this morning’s jobs report, versus 0.16 percent for non-health jobs. With 18,000 jobs added, health services accounted for only eight percent of new nonfarm civilian jobs.

This is a welcome development. The previous disproportionately high share of job growth in health services was a deliberate outcome of Obamacare. If this trend persists, it will become increasingly hard to carry out reforms that will improve productivity in the delivery of care.

Ambulatory sites added jobs at a much faster rate than hospitals (0.41 percent versus 0.21 percent). This was concentrated in outpatient care centers and home health. This is a good sign because these are low-cost locations of care.

See Table I below the fold: Continue reading Slow Growth, Downward Revision in Health Jobs →

Health Alerts

Obamacare Is A Terrible Jobs Progam

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doctor-with-family(A version of this Health Alert was published by American Thinker.)

As congressional Republicans embark on their promise to repeal and replace President Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act, they are being overwhelmed by claims that imply it’s a jobs program.  Scholars affiliated with the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University estimate Obamacare repeal would kill 2.6 million jobs by 2019.  Almost a million jobs would be lost from health services, while the balance would be lost in construction, real estate, retail, finance, and insurance.

Unfortunately, such research relies on the so-called “multiplier effect,” a politically seductive but misleading type of voodoo economics.  It goes like this: Obamacare throws money at hospitals, doctors’ offices, and other health services.  Those recipients build new facilities and hire more workers, who spend their paychecks in their communities.  It is the same kind of research that developers seeking taxpayer-subsidized stadiums commission – and it is meaningless. Continue reading Obamacare Is A Terrible Jobs Progam →

Health Insurance

Obamacare’s Bureaucracy: The Amazing Rise in Health Insurance Jobs

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health-insuranceAs Congress and President Trump debate how to repeal and replace Obamacare, the obsession with health insurance, rather than actual access to health care, has dominated the debate. It invites the question: How have jobs in health insurance fared before and after Obamacare?

They have boomed, growing over one quarter since the pre-recession January 2008 employment high-water mark. Continue reading Obamacare’s Bureaucracy: The Amazing Rise in Health Insurance Jobs →

Health Care Costs

Health Jobs Explode Versus Non-Health Jobs

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blsHealth jobs exploded in this morning’s jobs report, growing more than three times faster than non-health jobs (0.28 percent versus 0.09 percent). With 43,000 jobs added, health services accounted for over one quarter of 156,000 new nonfarm civilian jobs.

The disproportionately high share of job growth in health services is a deliberate outcome of Obamacare. While this trend persists, it will become increasingly hard to carry out reforms that will improve productivity in the delivery of care.

Ambulatory sites added jobs at a much faster rate than hospitals (0.41 percent versus 0.21 percent). This was concentrated in offices of physicians, which alone added. Ambulatory sites added 30,000 jobs, versus 11,000 in hospitals. This is a good sign because hospitals are high-cost locations of care versus doctors’ offices and other ambulatory sites.

See Table I below the fold: Continue reading Health Jobs Explode Versus Non-Health Jobs →

Health Care Costs

Health Jobs Grow 1.5 Times Faster Than Non-Health Jobs

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blsThis morning’s jobs report maintained the trend of high growth in health services, which grew 1.5 times faster than non-health jobs (0.18 percent versus 0.12 percent). With 28,000 jobs added, health services accounted for almost one in six of 178,000 new jobs.

The disproportionately high share of job growth in health services is a deliberate outcome of Obamacare. While this trend persists, it will become increasingly hard to carry out reforms that will improve productivity in the delivery of care.

Ambulatory sites added jobs at a much faster rate than hospitals. This was concentrated in offices of physicians and other practitioners, and outpatient care centers. Physicians’ offices alone added seven thousand jobs, more than the six thousand added by hospitals. This is a good sign because hospitals are high-cost locations of care versus doctors’ offices and other ambulatory sites.

See Table I below the fold.: Continue reading Health Jobs Grow 1.5 Times Faster Than Non-Health Jobs →

Health Care Costs

Health Jobs Grew Twice As Fast As Non-Health Jobs in October

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BLSThis morning’s jobs report maintained the trend of high growth in health services, with those jobs growing twice as fast as non-health jobs (0.21 percent versus 0.10 percent). With 31,000 jobs added, health services accounted for almost one fifth of 161,000 new jobs.

The disproportionately high share of job growth in health services is a deliberate outcome of Obamacare. While this trend persists, it will become increasingly hard to carry out reforms that will improve productivity in the delivery of care. Continue reading Health Jobs Grew Twice As Fast As Non-Health Jobs in October →

Health Care Costs

Health Jobs Grew Twice As Fast As Non-Health Jobs In September

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BLSThis morning’s jobs report was a return to normal, with jobs in health services growing twice as fast as non-health jobs (0.21 percent versus 0.10 percent). With 33,000 jobs added, health services accounted for one fifth 156,000 jobs added. Ambulatory sites (with the exception of labs) added jobs at more than double the rate of hospitals. Nursing and most other residential care facilities were flat (Table I). Continue reading Health Jobs Grew Twice As Fast As Non-Health Jobs In September →

Health Care Costs

Significant Job Losses in Nursing Homes A Drag On Health Job Growth

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BLSThis morning’s jobs report was somewhat weaker than expected, adding 151,000 jobs versus 180,000 expected. For the first time in many months, job growth in health services slightly lagged growth in non-health jobs (0.09 percent versus 0.11 percent).

However, there was a significant divergence within health services: Jobs in ambulatory care and hospitals jumped 0.16 percent and 0.21 percent, while nursing homes shed 7,000. That imposed a massive drag on health services overall, limiting growth to 14,000 jobs (Table I). Continue reading Significant Job Losses in Nursing Homes A Drag On Health Job Growth →

Health Care Costs

Health Services Jobs Grew 75 Percent Faster Than Non-Health Jobs

BLSThis morning’s jobs report was the second month in a row of good news on the employment front. However, like last month’s report, jobs in health services grew much faster than non-health jobs. Health services added 43,000 jobs in July comprising 17 percent of the 255,000 civilian non-health, non-farm jobs added (Table I). The monthly rate of growth in health services jobs was 75 percent more than for other jobs. The shifting of jobs towards the government-controlled health sector continues.

TI Continue reading Health Services Jobs Grew 75 Percent Faster Than Non-Health Jobs →