Will Saving on Health Care Hurt the Economy?
By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM, NYT
FEB. 8, 2014
WASHINGTON — LOST in all the debate last week about whether or not the Affordable Care Act will hurt the economy is the fact that health care is already imposing a drag on growth.
The health care sector has repeatedly helped to pull the economy from recession in recent decades, but this time around it is lagging behind the recovery.
Health care spending grew more slowly than the economy in 2011 and 2012 and will probably be found to have done so again in 2013. Meanwhile, health care employment also expanded more slowly than overall employment last year — and the government estimates that in January employment actually shrank for only the second time since 1990.
The reasons for this slowdown are not well understood. The Great Recession is clearly part of the story. Experts also point to changes in technology and in the way care is delivered and paid for. It seems likely that the landmark 2010 legislation is playing at least a small part, but the magnitude of its impact is hotly disputed.
(More here.)
FEB. 8, 2014
WASHINGTON — LOST in all the debate last week about whether or not the Affordable Care Act will hurt the economy is the fact that health care is already imposing a drag on growth.
The health care sector has repeatedly helped to pull the economy from recession in recent decades, but this time around it is lagging behind the recovery.
Health care spending grew more slowly than the economy in 2011 and 2012 and will probably be found to have done so again in 2013. Meanwhile, health care employment also expanded more slowly than overall employment last year — and the government estimates that in January employment actually shrank for only the second time since 1990.
The reasons for this slowdown are not well understood. The Great Recession is clearly part of the story. Experts also point to changes in technology and in the way care is delivered and paid for. It seems likely that the landmark 2010 legislation is playing at least a small part, but the magnitude of its impact is hotly disputed.
(More here.)
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