New York Times Asks If Saving Money on Health Care Hurts Economy

The New York Times Sunday Review notes that the health care sector has "repeatedly helped to pull the economy from recession in recent decades." However, in this recession's recovery, the health care sector has not been of much help. Health care spending is growing more slowly than the economy and health care employment is also lagging.

Hospital and health system leaders may disagree with the conclusions of some of the economic experts interviewed in the article — one characterized the health care sector as "bloated and imposing a horrible tax on the economy." However, they will certainly agree that the many cuts made to health care reimbursement and the efforts to make health care more efficient have contributed to job losses. Indeed, the American Hospital Association (AHA), the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Nurses Association (ANA) warned policy makers in 2012 that cuts to Medicare spending would affect hiring and the economy.