Do You Hear That GIANT Sucking Sound?

By Dave Chase

That giant sucking sound you’ve been hearing has been validated by new research from Yale, Univ Wisconsin & Univ Chicago confirms what I’ve been saying for years: rising hospital prices have a devastating impact on local economies and job markets. Not only are hyperinflating, turbocharged hospital prices sucking up the American Dream from the working middle class, they are also being extracted out of local economies for a fundamentally local service.

This echoes key themes from my book “Relocalizing Health: The Future of Healthcare is Local, Open & Independent.” [Free download available of the exec summary from the Health Rosetta website.]

Key findings from a new study:

• Companies lay off workers to offset increased health insurance costs after hospital price hikes
• A 1% increase in hospital prices led to a corresponding rise in unemployment
• Middle-income workers ($20K-$100K/year) were most affected
• Local economies suffered from decreased tax revenue and increased unemployment insurance payouts

This research underscores the urgent need for healthcare reform that prioritizes affordability, transparency, and local economic stability. As I’ve long argued, the future of healthcare must be rooted in local, open, and independent systems that serve communities rather than consolidating power and driving up costs.

Read the full article for more insights When Hospital Prices Go Up, Local Economies Take a Hit – WSJ

#Healthcare #LocalEconomies #EmployerHealthcare

Credit to the highly insightful research from Ithai Lurie Corbin Miller (IRS) Lev Klarnet Stuart Craig Zack Cooper Zarek Brot-Goldberg