Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Health Care Accounts For 1 in 6 New Jobs Added In May
The healthcare industry added 46,800 jobs in May, nearly matching April's largest monthly increase this year. The U.S. economy overall added 280,000 jobs鈥攎eaning about 1 in 6 were in healthcare鈥攁nd the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.5%. (Sandler, 6/5)
Health insurers are trying to figure out what makes consumers tick as the market increasingly becomes a direct-to-consumer business. But new surveys suggest that some of the previous ideas have been misguided. The backlash against restrictive health maintenance organizations in the 1990s gave rise to the idea that what consumers want is choice, said Jean-Pierre Stephan, a managing director at Accenture. But many people would be willing to accept a narrower, coordinated-care network as long as they still have control over their medical information, a survey from the consulting firm found. (Kutscher, 6/5)