MHA Press Room

Critical Care: The Economic Impact of Hospitals on the State's Economy

A comprehensive study of the economic impact of health care in Mississippi shows that our state’s hospitals have a staggering impact on the state economy. Study findings show hospitals alone generate:
• $11.9 billion total impact on the state economy 
• 60,143 full time job equivalent employees (5.7% of total statewide employment). Hospitals also created an additional 34,557 jobs outside of their facilities.
• Payrolls and benefits totaled $3.2 billion per year (with a total economic impact of $5.8 billion)
• Average hospital employee salary of $42,193 (compared to Mississippi average of $33,185)

These numbers tally only a fraction of the economic impact of the hospital on the state’s economy. As the hospitals spend dollars for operating and capital expenditures, they create jobs and payroll in other businesses in the economy. In total, 94,700 jobs are created by hospitals alone in Mississippi due to hospital employment, operational activities and construction activities. 

The publication, Critical Care: The Economic Impact of Hospitals on Mississippi’s Economy, was commissioned by the Mississippi Hospital Association and conducted by DataGen. DataGen analyzed not only the direct economic contribution of hospitals, but also calculated how many jobs and how much income and tax revenue is created as a secondary effect. The jobs and payroll generated in other businesses are measured with employment and income multipliers derived for Mississippi.

“As Mississippi leaders continue to consider the state’s economic priorities and look for ways to create more jobs, they should keep in mind the importance of hospitals and health care to the state economy,” said Sam W. Cameron, MHA President/CEO. “This study shows that health care is much more to Mississippi than hospitals, clinics and doctors. The ripple effect of the health care sector throughout Mississippi’s economy is enormous. What’s good for Mississippi’s hospitals is good for Mississippi’s economy.”

In many Mississippi communities, hospitals are the largest or one of the largest employers. Twenty-six hospitals have more than 500 employees. (This number does not include contract employees.) Many of the people working in hospitals are highly skilled and well paid. (The average hospital employee salary in Mississippi is $42,193.) Throughout the recession, hospitals have served as a firm foundation for our state’s economy. Mississippi hospital employment remained stable even while manufacturing and other sectors shed jobs in record numbers.

An often-overlooked aspect of hospitals in economic development is the ability to attract and recruit big business based on the availability of quality health care. Company surveys reveal that managers often look at health care as an important issue in locating facilities. The existence of a strong health care network can lower health care costs for firms and their employees and provide value-added services for firms such as occupational health. Also, retirees and workers are more likely to choose a location that has access to quality health care.

Mississippi hospitals directly provide over $3.2 billion in salaries and benefits and generate another $2.1 billion annually in income through other jobs. Mississippi’s health care sector is also generating more new jobs faster than the national average. According to the Bureau of Labor, 1 of 4 new jobs in our current economy are related to health care. The health care sector is not only the nation's top job generator, but it's also one of the few major industries producing new jobs at all. 

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CDC: Unemployed adults have poorer health, access to care

Unemployed adults are more likely to be uninsured and in poor health than those with jobs, and less likely to receive needed medical care and prescriptions, according to a report released Jan. 24 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Based on data from the CDC's National Health Interview Survey, 48% of unemployed adults had health insurance in 2009-2010, compared with 81% of employed adults.

More than 41% of unemployed adults without health insurance delayed or did not receive needed medical care due to cost, compared with 15% of those with private health insurance, the survey found. More than 11% of unemployed adults had fair or poor health, compared with 5% of employed adults.

Study: Additional cuts to funding for hospital care would drive up job losses

An additional 83,000 jobs could be lost if Congress enacts nearly $20 billion in Medicare cuts to funding for hospital care included in H.R. 3630, House-passed legislation extending the Social Security tax holiday, unemployment insurance and the physician fix, according to an updated analysis by a firm specializing in economic impact studies. That's in addition to an estimated 194,000 jobs that will be lost through mandatory sequestration slated to begin in 2013, which includes $41.5 billion in cuts to Medicare payments to hospitals over nine years.

Two of every three dollars spent on hospital care goes to wages and salaries for caregivers and other workers. Hospitals, which rank second only to restaurants as the top source of private-sector jobs, created 89,000 jobs in 2011.

"Cuts in funding for hospital care will threaten jobs at a time when our nation needs to be creating jobs, not eliminating them," said American Hospital Association President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock. "H.R. 3630 would lead to further job losses in hospitals, an ill-advised move in these tough economic times."

Find Mississippi's job loss numbers here.

CDC: Adult, childhood obesity rates unchanged in 2009-10

About 36% of adults and 17% of children were obese in 2009-2010, the same as in 2007-2008, according to a report released Jan. 17 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That represents more than 78 million adults and 12.5 million children.

Obesity rates have increased for men and boys over the past decade, but not for women and girls. Obesity rates for men and women are now the same, while boys are more likely to be obese than girls.

Obesity is higher among adolescents than preschool-age children. Women aged 60 and older are more likely to be obese than younger women. The data are from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

In related news, HBO announced Jan. 13 it will partner with the CDC, Institute of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Kaiser Permanente and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation on “The Weight of the Nation,” an HBO series and public health campaign debuting in May. The initiative will include a nationwide community outreach campaign and IOM report recommending strategies and actions to accelerate progress in curbing obesity.

Report: ACA has increased dependent health coverage for young adults

More young adults have health coverage as dependents since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act required group health plans to make dependent coverage available until age 26, according to a new report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The report reviews the impact of the ACA requirement, which took effect in September 2010, based on data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and Survey of Income and Program Participation and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Interview Survey.

According to CPS data, the percentage of 19-25 year olds with employment-based coverage as a dependent increased to 27.7% in 2010 from 24.7% in 2009, while SIPP shows the percentage of 19-25 year olds with employment-based dependent coverage increased to 27.1% from 26.9% after the requirement took effect. According to NHIS, the proportion of 19-25 year olds with private insurance increased to 55.8% in the first half of 2011 from 51% in 2010, while the percentage of uninsured fell from 33.9% to 28.8%.

CDC: Deaths from seven leading causes decline in 2010

Life expectancy at birth increased by one-tenth of a year in 2010, to 78.7 years, while death rates for seven leading causes of death declined, according to a report released Jan. 11 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Age-adjusted death rates declined by 8.5% for influenza and pneumonia, 3.6% for septicemia, 2.4% for heart disease, 1.5% for stroke, 1.4% for chronic lower respiratory diseases, 1.1% for accidents/unintentional injuries, and 0.6% for cancer.

Heart disease and cancer, the two leading causes of death, accounted for nearly half of all deaths. Death rates for five leading causes increased in 2010: Parkinson's disease (4.6%), pneumonitis (4.1%), Alzheimer’s disease (3.3%), chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (3.3%), and kidney disease (1.3%).

20% of Healthcare Dollars Spent on 1% of Population

In 2009, 1% of the nation's civilian population required healthcare spending that was slightly greater than in 2008, an increase from 20.2% to 21.8% of $1.26 trillion in treatment dollars, according to the latest Statistical Brief from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Report: ACA not likely to reduce employer-sponsored coverage

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will leave employer-sponsored health insurance largely intact, according to a new report from the Urban Institute. The report looks at the ACA's coverage provisions, tax subsidies and workforce characteristics, and factors that are likely to influence employer decisions to drop or retain health coverage for employees.

“Although predictions are inherently uncertain, the most thorough analyses support the conclusion that the ACA will leave employer-coverage largely intact, even as it creates a viable insurance market for those people employer-sponsored insurance fails to reach,” the authors conclude.

Combs joins MHA as vice president for policy

In September, Gwen Combs joined the staff of the Mississippi Hospital Association as Vice President for Policy. 

Gwen recently retired from the State, having served as Deputy General Counsel for the Mississippi Bar for seven years, Special Assistant Attorney General assigned to the Division of Medicaid for 10 years, Deputy Administrator for the Division of Medicaid for two years, Senior Staff Attorney for the Mississippi Supreme Court for four years, and law clerk to then-Presiding Justice Dan Lee of the Mississippi Supreme Court for two years.

Gwen received her law degree from Mississippi College School of Law, graduating with Special Distinction in 1987.  She served as Senior Associate Editor of the Mississippi College Law Review and her case note was published in 1986.  Gwen has a Master’s Degree in English from Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois, and a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Kentucky Wesleyan College, in Owensboro, Kentucky.

Gwen and her husband, Perry, reside in Jackson. They are the parents of two sons, Ian Combs of Fairhope, Alabama, and Evan Combs of Hattiesburg, Mississippi,  and the grandparents of Savannah Marie and Lucas Gregory Combs.  They are members of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. Gwen is  a member of the American Bar Association and its Health Law Section, and the Mississippi Bar, where she serves on the Ethics Committee.

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Minorities would be hard hit by Medicaid cuts, study warns

Blacks and Latinos would be among those hardest hit if Medicaid funding were cut as part of a deficit-reduction package, according to a new report released Oct. 14 by Families USA, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Council of La Raza, among others. In these communities, more than one in four people rely on Medicaid, the shared federal-state health program for the poor, compared with fewer than one in eight whites.

Census issues estimates of uninsured by state, county

The U.S. Census Bureau on Oct. 13 released state and county health coverage estimates for 2008 and 2009. The estimates are available by sex, age group, race/ethnicity and income, including income-to-poverty ratios relevant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The estimates are based on data from a variety of sources, including the American Community Survey, Census Bureau, and administrative records such as aggregated federal tax returns and Medicaid participation records.