Access to health care is a key factor in building quality of life. Communities that provide affordable access to healthy lifestyles and good health care are better able to attract and retain business, residents.
Health and social services are a major investment within Sandoval County. Since 2008, more than $750 million has been invested into hospitals (Presbyterian Rust and UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Centers), clinics, and higher education institutions which train tomorrow’s health care workforce. The two hospitals alone spend tens of millions annually in the local economy. Half the 1,200 combined hospital employees live and pay taxes in in Sandoval County.
Statewide, the sector attracts $7 billion annually to NM in federal transfer payments (including Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Affairs medical services). 46% of NM’s population is on Medicaid insurance.
Sustainable growth: Changing demographics, an aging population and changes in health care delivery will continue to grow demand for health and social services for years to come.
Nationally, Americans spend about $4.1 trillion annually on health care, more than twice any other industrialized country, an unsustainable trend in the opinion of analysts. 90% of that amount goes toward caring for people with chronic and mental health conditions, many of which are preventable or could be better managed. The sheer cost of treating preventable chronic diseases is staggering: $730 billion in 2016 alone, estimates the medical journal Lancet.
