According to a new article in the New England Journal of Medicine, health reform may accelerate the trend toward health care being the dominant employment sector in the economy. Much of the job growth, economists say, will be seen in support positions, rather than doctors and nurses.
As the number of insured increases under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), demand for health services and consequently the need for health care workers, will increase.
Massachusetts, where health reform was implemented in 2006, as an example, saw healthcare employment grow 9.5% , compared with 5.5% in the U.S. economy overall.
Repeal of the PPACA could slow down this potential economic growth, according to Leemore Dafny, an economist at Northwestern University. Dafny said, “If the ACA is repealed, it will be business as usual – except that more of the population is now uninsured – so the demand for primary care professionals will increase much more slowly.”
