Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Virtual Health
    • - Future of Healthcare Staffing
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Finance
March 17, 2017 01:00 AM

Vital Signs: Why health hiring is slowing as health spending is growing

Dave Barkholz
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    The super-hot rate of healthcare job growth has started to abate after hospitals and health providers have staffed up since 2013 to care for 20 million newly insured people under the Affordable Care Act.

    But the same can't be said for health spending, according to the healthcare think tank Altarum Institute, based in Ann Arbor, Mich.

    In January, U.S. health spending grew 5.7% compared to the same month in 2016, the same as in December. That outpaced Altarum's projections. The institute's analysts had expected growth to come in between 4% and 4.5% during the third and fourth quarters of 2016, said Ani Turner, co-director of Altarum's Center for Sustainable Health Spending.

    Turner said the only logical explanation for the bump is higher-than-expected utilization of services, since there hasn't been a massive uptick in uninsured gaining coverage as there was during the Medicaid expansions, and prices are growing at a moderate 2%.

    The center doesn't capture the data to specifically back that contention, she said. But anecdotally, analysts are hearing stories of patients getting elective care because they fear what will come when the ACA is replaced, she said.

    Turner also noted that the insured are waiting until late in the year to have elective procedures done after they've paid off their high deductibles. With increasing numbers of people being put on high-deductible insurance by employers and those deductibles getting ever higher, that might be playing into the national health spend, Turner said.

    The 5.7% rate of health spending growth is closer to the 6% to 7% annual growth rate of 10 years ago than the 2.9% seen in 2013 when Medicare ratcheted down on prices and many high-priced pharmaceuticals came off patent and had to compete with lower-cost generics, Turner said.

    In January, health spending reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $3.47 trillion, or 18.2% of the gross domestic product, a value of all goods and services sold in the economy.

    Altarum is starting to see an expected slowing in healthcare hiring as far fewer people are acquiring healthcare insurance for the first time, Turner said.

    Health providers have been bulking up on staff to meet the new demands on care brought by the newly insured and the transition to providing more care in outpatient settings, she said.

    Now, those systems expect productivity gains to kick in as their staffs reach proficiency.

    Healthcare job growth averaged 19,000 in the months of January and February compared to an average of 32,000 new jobs per month throughout 2016 and 2015, she said.

    The question now is whether uncertainty over the looming replacement of the ACA will cause hiring to stall or decline.

    “While still very early in the year, 2017 so far is showing a tapering off of the acceleration in health job growth that aligned with expanded health insurance coverage. Providers may also be more cautious given uncertainty about changes to Medicaid and insurance markets,” the center said in its report.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Jason Hollar
    Cardinal Health names new CEO, plans price increases to bolster earnings
    Kaiser Permanente
    Kaiser Permanente has a rough first half as Q2 net loss exceeds $1B
    Sponsored Content
    Daily Finance Newsletter: Sign up to receive daily news and data that has a direct impact on the business and financing of healthcare.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Virtual Health
        • - Future of Healthcare Staffing
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing