{"id":2285122,"date":"2024-06-28T03:56:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T07:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/study-true-costs-of-health-care-spending-are-lives-and-jobs\/"},"modified":"2024-06-28T04:05:14","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T08:05:14","slug":"study-true-costs-of-health-care-spending-are-lives-and-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/study-true-costs-of-health-care-spending-are-lives-and-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Study: True Costs Of Health Care Spending Are Lives And Jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fstudy-true-costs-of-health-care-spending-are-lives-and-jobs%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2285122&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The\u2062 summary of the content is as follows:<\/p>\n<p>In a recent publication by Medicare&#8217;s Office of the Actuary, projected health spending in the U.S. is expected to rise from nearly $4.5 trillion in 2022 to over\u200d $7.7 trillion by 2032,\u200b representing an increase to\u2062 just under 20\u200d percent of GDP. \u200dThis projected increase\u200d is \u2063often\u2064 overshadowed \u2062by larger fiscal concerns; however,\u200b a study by the \u2062National Bureau \u2063of Economic Research has offered concrete insights into the direct impact of escalating healthcare \u200dcosts, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidenflation-peloton-to-hike-prices-on-exercise-equipment-citing-rising-costs\/\" title=\"Bidenflation: Peloton to Hike Prices on Exercise Equipment Citing Rising Costs\">citing rising costs<\/a> as a cause for job losses.<\/p>\n<p>The study focused\u200c on the effect of hospital mergers, which are linked to \u200dprice\u200b increases without improved healthcare quality, and discovered that a 1 percent increase in healthcare prices can cause a 0.37 percent reduction \u200din non-healthcare sector payroll. \u200dThis \u200btypically \u2062results in lower\u2062 wages, fewer hours, or job losses\u200b as employers struggle \u2063to balance total compensation costs. <\/p>\n<p>Middle-class workers are particularly vulnerable, as \u2062the cost of their health benefits consume\u2062 a larger percentage of their total compensation compared\u200d to higher earners,\u200c making them more likely to\u200b face\u200d layoffs.\u200b Additionally, the study noted that increased healthcare \u200ccosts in a county could \u2062link to a slight \u200crise in &#8220;deaths \u2064of despair,&#8221; such as suicides \u2063and overdoses,\u2064 emphasizing the\u2062 broader\u200b social impact of rising health expenses.<\/p>\n<p>While very <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gas-up-58-meat-up-13-inside-the-newest-record-breaking-inflation-report\/\" title=\"Gas Up 58%, Meat Up 13%: Inside The Newest Record-Breaking Inflation Report\">low-income earners<\/a>, often below $20,000, \u200cmight be less affected directly by\u2063 healthcare\u2062 costs\u2063 due to reliance\u2062 on government programs like \u2064Medicaid, the middle-class bears the brunt of health-related financial pressures, \u2064resulting\u200d in significant socioeconomic\u200b consequences.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In mid-June, Medicare\u2019s Office of the Actuary published its annual estimate of national health spending projections for the coming decade. As usual, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthaffairs.org\/doi\/10.1377\/hlthaff.2024.00469\">document<\/a> concluded that health spending would rise ever higher, from nearly $4.5 trillion in 2022, or 17.3 percent of the entire economy, to more than $7.7 trillion, and just under 20 percent of GDP, in 2032.<\/p>\n<p>Most Americans\u2019 eyes tend to glaze over at these lofty projections of ever-growing health spending \u2014 or the long-term <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/24\/two-trillion-dollar-deficits-show-washington-has-a-spending-problem\/\">fiscal predicament<\/a> it causes. A new study, however, provides much more tangible evidence as to the true effects of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nigerias-war-on-twitter-prompts-national-security-concerns\/\" title=\"Nigeria\u2019s War on Twitter Prompts National Security Concerns\">rising health care costs<\/a>. In some cases, it costs people their jobs.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Effects of Hospital Mergers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nber.org\/papers\/w32613\">study<\/a>, released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, attempts to get behind the reasons health costs increase. In some cases, rising health care costs could result from people in an area becoming wealthier and therefore spending more money on care. The researchers controlled for this variable by examining areas where hospitals merged \u2014 because such mergers are associated with increasing prices but no commensurate increase in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cia-hires-first-ever-chief-wellbeing-officer\/\" title=\"CIA Hires First-Ever \u201cChief Wellbeing Officer\u201d\">health care quality<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers examined hospital mergers, of which there have been many in recent years, to conclude that a 1 percent increase in health care prices led employers outside the health care sector to reduce payroll by 0.37 percent. Economists would generally agree with this conclusion, due to the belief that the \u201cemployer\u2019s\u201d share of health insurance premiums ultimately comes out of employees\u2019 pockets. With total compensation (wages and benefits) being held constant, more money spent on insurance premiums means less money to spend on wages for workers.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Job Losses for the Middle Class<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The study found that those payroll reductions come not just from businesses working employees fewer hours but from maintaining fewer employees overall, ultimately reflected through job losses. Those job losses had continued knock-on effects, in the form of lower income tax revenue and higher spending on unemployment benefits. The researchers even concluded that, because of the phenomenon of \u201cdeaths of despair\u201d from individuals who leave the workforce, \u201cwe observe that a 1% increase in county-level health prices led to approximately one additional county-level death from suicides and overdoses per 100,000 people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the study also concluded that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stock-market-tanks-after-report-on-biden-plan-to-pay-for-leftist-agenda-experts-warn-it-is-insanity\/\" title=\"Stock Market Tanks After Report On Biden Plan To Pay For Leftist Agenda, Experts Warn: \u2018It Is Insanity\u2019\">middle-class workers<\/a> get hit hardest by the job losses associated with higher health costs, for somewhat logical reasons. If health costs for every worker total $10,000, paying health benefits for a worker making $200,000 per year would raise that employee\u2019s total compensation by 5 percent (i.e., $10,000\/$200,000), but would raise the total compensation for a worker making only $50,000 by 20 percent ($10,000\/$50,000), giving the employer a greater incentive to lay off the latter. <\/p>\n<p>This trend doesn\u2019t hold true at very low incomes \u2014 particularly below $20,000 \u2014 where workers often rely upon government programs such as Medicaid to cover health expenses, rather than employer coverage. An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/health\/healthcare\/hospital-healthcare-prices-increase-employee-layoffs-9a4b90f6?mod=health_lead_pos1\">article<\/a> in The\u00a0Wall Street Journal\u00a0highlighting the paper\u2019s conclusions included a chart demonstrating how the employment effects exclusively hit middle-income workers:<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Obamacare Killing Patients?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The study examined the years right around Obamacare\u2019s enactment, when hospitals began <a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2018\/09\/28\/hospital-monopolies-whats-wrong-american-health-care\/\">gobbling up their competitors<\/a> and physician practices to gain additional leverage in the brave new health care world. That fact makes the researchers\u2019 conclusions all the more relevant:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>Our estimates imply that the price growth between 2007 and 2014 reduced workers\u2019 incomes by 2.7%, increased unemployment by approximately 0.86 percentage points (a 10% increase or 1.44 million jobs lost), lowered federal income tax revenues by 3.4%, and led to an increase in suicides and overdoses of 6.2 per 100,000 population (approximately 10,000 additional deaths across working-age adults). Based on the [Department of Transportation\u2019s] 2015 value of a statistical life ($9.6 million), the economic value of this loss of life would be approximately $96 billion.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Somehow, Barack Obama and Joe Biden forgot to mention all of these knock-on effects when trying to sell the American public on Obamacare.<\/p>\n<p>The study provides further evidence of the need to halt, and ideally reverse, the consolidation that plagues American health care. The middle class deserves better than a system that overcharges them, lowers their wages, and in some cases takes away their jobs.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p>      Chris Jacobs is founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group, and author of the book &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1645720020\">The Case Against Single Payer<\/a>.&#8221; He is on Twitter: <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/chrisjacobsHC\">@chrisjacobsHC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In mid-June, Medicare\u2019s Office of the Actuary released its yearly forecast, predicting a rise in national health spending from about $4.5 trillion in 2022 (17.3% of GDP) to over $7.7 trillion, nearly 20% of GDP, over the next decade<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2285123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/26682786574_68e7850bca_h.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[7969,33159,4330,4866],"class_list":["post-2285122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-costs","tag-health-care","tag-jobs","tag-study"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/26682786574_68e7850bca_h.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2285122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2285123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2285122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2285122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2285122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}