The global coronavirus pandemic has created a huge need for health care in the US, but it also is delivering a devastating financial blow to that sector.
Covid-19 worries have kept patients away from doctors’ offices and forced the postponement and cancellation of non-urgent surgeries. The pandemic also has shut down large portions of the American economy, leaving many would-be patients without insurance or in a financial pinch that makes them curb spending.
All of this has forced hospitals, health systems and doctors to lay off staff, cut costs and hope a return to normal arrives soon.
“You couldn’t ask for a worse situation, really,” said Joe Antos, an economist with the American Enterprise Institute.
Health care provided the biggest drag on the US economy in the first quarter. Spending on care fell at an annual rate of 18 per cent, the largest drop for that sector among records going back to 1959.