Report: Census Numbers Point to Need for Health System Adjustments

Aug. 14, 2021
New census numbers show the healthcare industry will have to adjust as the population changes from the last decade

According to an Aug. 13 article published in Barron’s by Matt Smith, “New census numbers show that the $4 trillion healthcare industry will need to rethink how and where it puts its money as America ages, moves to cities, and becomes more diverse.”

Smith reported that “In the past decade, the population over age 18 grew by 10 percent—to 258 million— while the number under 18 declined by 1.4 percent. About 80 percent of urban areas grew, while only half of less-populated areas did. The number of non-Hispanic white people declined from 196 million to 191 million, while the white population shrank from 64 percent to 58 percent.”

Further, “Healthcare costs have already been rising faster than inflation and will balloon at an even greater rate as the population ages, and there are fewer young workers, experts said.”

Joanne Spetz, director of the University of California at San Francisco medical school’s health policy institute was quoted in the article saying that “We are seeing growth in the oldest old—that means 85 and up—and so you’re going to see a need for more care for people with disabilities, and more intensive healthcare services.”

Additionally, “As for race and ethnicity, more hospitals, clinics, and assisted-living centers will need to serve patients of different cultures and languages,” she said.

William Dow, professor of public health and demography at the University of California at Berkeley, also commented that “Higher prices may intensify political pressure to reduce costs of hospitalization and other medical expenses.”

Spetz commented that “The shift to cities will also alter healthcare investment.”

Smith concluded that “While rural areas are losing population, it’s a migration of the young. This means the trend of rural hospitals shutting down will continue, adding to the reasons some residents choose to leave, exacerbating the problem.”

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