Nearly One-Third of All Healthcare Jobs Created in August Were in the Home Health Care Sector.

“An interesting article by Valerie VanBooven RN BSN”

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) release the August jobs report on Friday, September 6th and it indicated that almost a full one-third of the jobs that were created in the healthcare industry were within the home health care field. This information highlights a continuing trend that the home health care industry is experiencing growth that is vital to not only the health care industry, but to the entire United States economy as a whole.

According the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the home health care industry is responsible for 93,000 new jobs since 2012. During last month, 9,500 home health jobs were created. There are a number of reasons for this considerable growth throughout the home care industry, including the Baby Boomer generation of adults who are reaching or approaching retirement age as well as provisions within the Affordable Care Act of 2010 that will soon be fully implemented between 2014 and 2016.

Proposed Medicare Cuts Threaten to Undermine this Growth

There are some dark clouds that loom along the horizon for this industry, especially properly Medicare cuts that could potentially threaten the integrity and viability of the entire home healthcare community. The current proposals indicate that home healthcare could be rebased by as much as 14 percent through 2017. 47 out of the 50 U.S. states could actually have a negative Medicare margin by that year as well.

Eric Berger, SEO of Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare, said, “The August jobs report underscores the value home health brings to the American healthcare system. Our community remains highly concerned that proposed cuts to Medicare home health will stifle job growth, while also limiting patient access to the home-based health services our nation’s seniors demand. To ensure

[that] much-needed healthcare jobs and patient care are not at risk, we encourage CMS to conduct a more thorough multi-year analysis of the proposed rule and its impact on a healthcare sector that is poised to support job and economic growth.”

According the current trends, the job growth within the home health industry would outpace all other non-farm projections by more than five times, through the end of the decade. However, if the proposed Medicare cuts are pushed through, it could endanger this potentially strong expansion and job growth, which could have a rippling effect not only through the economy, but also throughout the high level of care that seniors living at home have grown to expect.