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But there has to be good news

And yes, Virginia, there was some good news.

In mining the Internet, we found this underreported bit of information at the U.S. Census Bureau: Doctor’s offices accounted for $330 billion in revenue in 2006, while dentists made up another $87 billion of the $1.6 trillion in revenue of the health care and social assistance sector.

Health care and social assistance grew 6 percent in 2006.

“At $1.6 trillion in 2006, the health care and social assistance sector continues to play a strong role in the health of the U.S. economy,” no apparent pun intended by Mark Wallace, chief of the Census Bureau’s service sector statistics division.

All four subsectors of health care and social services gained revenue from 2005, according to the bureau. Revenue in 2006 was $654 billion for hospitals; $647 billion for ambulatory health care services, which includes offices of doctors and other health practitioners, such as chiropractors and optometrists; $149 billion for nursing and residential care facilities; and $117 billion for social assistance.

Hooray for baby boomers! They’re getting old and sick and in need of help, thus spurring the health care industry and the national economy.

 

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