Rising Healthcare Costs Hurting Industries with Most Employer-Sponsored Insurance

Overall, when all 38 industries were examined, a 10% increase in excess healthcare cost growth was expected to result in about 120,800 fewer jobs, $28 billion in lost revenues, and about $14 billion in lost value added, Sood noted. These effects, though, might be slowed down by workers moving to other industries—albeit industries with lower percentages of workers with employer-sponsored insurance.

Sood said he couldn't predict the effect on healthcare reform related to these trends. However, the findings do "show a need for healthcare reform," Sood said. "This establishes that the status quo is hurting the economic performance of industry. And given the economy we have now, the impetus for healthcare reform is even larger."