Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 8, 1992 TAG: 9202080187
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: EDWIN CHEN LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
HEALTH ISSUE: SAVINGS VS. JOBS
Amid the rising clamor nationwide to cut spiraling health care costs lurks a painful paradox that President Bush and members of Congress must confront: The health care industry is the only major sector of the ailing economy that continues to grow, and efforts to reduce spending could end up costing jobs.The industry's importance to the nation's economy was underscored Friday when the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of jobs in health services increased by 395,000 in 1991, while overall 663,000 jobs were lost.
Government figures also show that nearly 8 percent of the nation's non-agriculture workers are in health services, including doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, physical therapists, pharmacists, technicians, orderlies, consultants and analysts. And the 8.5 million health-care workers account for more than 12 percent of the gross domestic product, or nearly $700 billion annually.
"Health care is a very labor intensive endeavor," said Ed Howard, executive vice president of the Alliance for Health Reform. "What's bureaucratic waste to one person can be another person's paycheck."
But the rapidly rising cost of health care has fueled demands for reform.
Bush unveiled a package of proposals Thursday, including tax breaks, that he said would help curb costs and extend coverage to 35 million uninsured Americans. Democrats in Congress also have introduced reform plans that promise similar results, but using different approaches.
One of the president's proposals would standardize and automate the various insurance billing systems, which account for $79.8 billion annually in administrative costs. But as Lisa Sprague, a health policy analyst at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, noted: "We'd all like to see less paper-pushing, but there are people who do those functions."
Caught in the middle of such proposals are the health-care workers. They make up more than 10 percent of the work force in some cities, said Richard Devens, a senior economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"They are certainly a growth sector, but the last thing we need are more doctors," said Harvey I. Sloane, a physician and director of Health Care for America, a group that supports national health insurance. "We need to restructure the manpower in health care."
One reason for the growth in health-care jobs in recent years is the explosion of medical technology, which has created demands for more skilled personnel.
"We're far and away the world's most innovative country in terms of new pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology and diagnostics," said Wayne Roe, chairman of Health Technology Associates Inc. in Washington, a business consulting firm. "And that employs a lot of people.
"The more sophisticated the tools become, the more they may require additional doctors and support personnel," Roe added.
The health-care industry has helped offset the U.S. trade deficit with exports of medical technology and pharmaceuticals, which consistently are among the nation's largest trade surpluses.
Another reason for the increasing number of workers in health services is the aging of the population. "As the population ages, there is more demand for health services," said William Barron, acting commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In many communities, hospitals are the largest employer.