Health Care's Getting More Expensive, But Think of All the New Jobs!

Filed in archive Health on September 27, 2006

Sort of thinking aloud here...

Health care costs are skyrocketing, right? In fact, although the increase in costs has slowed down, they're still moving up twice as fast as inflation.

No one thinks this is a good thing, but I'm looking for a silver lining. And here it is:

Unlike many other jobs, health care jobs aren't being shipped to China and India, right? So, as the trend goes to more people living longer and health care costs rising, there are a ton of jobs being created in the Health care industry. This includes both the medical institutions themselves and the companies that exist to serve them--medical supply companies, pharmaceutical companies, various companies that do outsourced administrative work, janitorial services, cafeteria services, etc.

Here in Cleveland, The Cleveland Clinic, a highly-regarded hospital up there with the Mayo Clinic in terms of the skill of its medical staff, is the fifth-largest employer in Ohio, not far behind Proctor & Gamble according to some numbers I've seen recently. Every time I go by they're putting up another building. I saw a quote stating that over 90,000 people in this region work in hospitals or health care facilities. And those numbers are going to grow. Cleveland's not a very thriving economy in general these days, but if you're in health care, opportunity abounds.

I'm no economist, and it's quite possible I have my head up my butt here, but a country's economy changes as money shifts to different places. If money's being spent and circulated, the economy isn't necessarily worse, the money's just flowing into different areas. What that means now is that if you feel like you're getting gouged by health insurance costs, your best bet might be to change your line of work and get some of those dollars that are flowing into hospitals, rehab centers, medical supply companies and the like. It's the one way to take some sting out of having your pockets picked every time you step into a doctor's office.

I have a feeling this post is going to make some people angry at me.