General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe heath care profession is one of the few substantial growth sectors left in our economy
And it is just about the only one that still offers a robust full spectrum of entry level positions, offered at various pay levels - including many well above starvation wages with further upside possibility.
Not only has the Affordable Care Act facilitated millions of Americans receiving health care that would otherwise have been beyond their means, it has simultaneously expanded good career opportunities for millions more. Jobs that are difficult to outsource, jobs that can support the raising of families with a modicum of built in security. In addition, unlike those laboring in the fast food industry, health care workers of all kinds can take some personal pride in helping their neighbors live lives more well, not ones sickened further by poor nutrition.
What more productive work force is there than one that helps our citizens live long and healthy lives? With a focus on prevention and proactive measures to increase wellness, the Affordable Care Act supports our ability to receive support for our health, both inside our own homes and through local out patient practitioners, rather than through crisis response management via high stress emergency room interventions. And this includes mental health care as well, at a time when money for low income mental health clinics in recent decades had substantially withered.
When less people have access to health care, less people have access to career opportunities inside of health care. Mining jobs are not returning. Automation churns relentlessly on, and soon even professional drivers will become obsolete, not to mention checkers and store clerks. It may not be the most immediate, nor the most deadly consequence of unraveling the Affordable Care Act and scaling back the services now being delivered through it, but job losses that will result from that are yet another dagger aimed at our shrinking middle class.
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)The 0.9% in earned income and 3.8% in investment income taxes amounts to about $35B/yr. That is 400,000 nurses with benefits. The need is there, but there is no money because of the wealth concentration. Nursing schools have been expanding like crazy to meet this need. Most conservatives include majoring in nursing as a good career. You tool yourself up for four years and take on debt (nursing school is not cheap with few public options available).
My daughter is a nursing student scheduled to graduate in August.
Tom Rinaldo
(22,919 posts)hired more nurses in response to changes in our health care system brought about by the A.C.A. that spurred me to write this OP. People like your daughter have been training to enter that field in response to circumstances that now are being reversed. Years of study and no doubt debt incurred with the future of career opportunities suddenly far less certain as a result of Republican malpractice.
hibbing
(10,112 posts)dalton99a
(81,676 posts)We know everything Trump touches turns to shit.