Job Loss Is Probable Under A Medicare For All Option

This is not an article to debate the merits of a “Medicare For All” proposal, but rather, it pertains to what no one is talking about - JOB LOSS!

The health care system has been a huge power of jobs.

According to the New York Times, jobs in healthcare increased during the Affordable Care Act from 1 in 12 to 1 in 9 Americans working in healthcare. How many people would lose their jobs if a Medicare For All program came to be, is anyone’s guess? According to an on-line Washington Post article “health care payers and providers in the United States spend about $496 billion on billing and insurance-related (BIR) costs, according to Center for American Progress estimates.”

This includes claims examiners, coders, billers, reconciliation examiners and fraud and abuse workers. Also included are overhead in hospitals for quality improvement. Experience Officers, risk managers, and more. 

The Academy of Professional Coders has more than 165,000 members. That’s a large amount of people who could lose their jobs. It’s no secret that the health care system is bloated, in-transparent, and inefficient. Doctor offices alone employ 7 to 10 administrative staff to keep their practices running.

The Health Care System has powered the economy since the Great Recession. It wouldn’t be a bad thing for the system to become more efficient and have lower costs. But, do we need a $20.5 trillion new healthcare system to do it?

Will quality of care improve?

Will taxes have to be continually raised to support a public system?

Will doctors stay in the public system or flee to private practice? 

Under the current system, we have already seen an entire industry of psychologists and psychiatrists reject the current system’s payment methodology, and now only take private paying clients.

Will this happen to primary care doctors in the public system whose rankings we need more of, not less of?

In time we will have answers to all these questions. In the meantime, your best bet is to hire a health advocate that you trust and could help you navigate the healthcare system.