Is PA Really Recession-Proof?
Is the PA profession really protected from a recession?
Conventional wisdom is that health care providers don't have to worry too much about losing their jobs during an economic downturn. People always need health care, right?
People always need health care, but they can't always pay for it.
The health care crisis now seems to be affecting the bottom lines of health insurers. Large health insurers WellPoint and UnitedHealth are both having real problems.
From The New York Times:
The UnitedHealth Group, which announced disappointing first-quarter earnings on Tuesday, said the weakening economy was causing fewer businesses and employees to sign up for its health insurance. UnitedHealth, whose stock fell sharply on the report, also cut its overall profit outlook for 2008.
“We are clearly being impacted by the declining economic outlook,” Stephen J. Hemsley, the company’s chief executive, told investors Tuesday.
From the Indianapolis Star:
WellPoint’s internal problems and financial woes seem to be getting worse every time the Indianapolis-based insurance giant’s leaders speak publicly.
In reporting its first-quarter earnings this morning, WellPoint — for the second time in as many months — lowered its profit outlook for the year.
The bottom line? Sure, people are always going to need health care. But how many of them are going to be able to pay for it?