A new report from a University of Montana economist predicts that health care already the largest piece of Billings economy will grow even more dominant in the coming years.

Bryce Ward, associate director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana, wrote The Contribution of Health Care to Billings Economy and presented some of his findings during the Big Sky Health Care Summit held in Billings in July.

Big Sky Economic Development helped fund the recently published study, which builds on some of the material Ward presented during the summit.

Nearly 13,000 people work in Billings health care industry, earning about $641 million in wages, or about 20 percent of all Billings wages. Over the past 25 years, health care employment in Billings has almost doubled, and health care wages grew by 162 percent, adjusted for inflation.

About 3,700 health care jobs are expected to be added in the next seven years, exceeding the projection of every other industry. Health care employment is expected to be boosted by 29 percent between 2012 and 2022.

Without (Billings) health care sector, many people and businesses would move way from (or never move to) Billings, the report states.

Not only is the health care sector prevalent in Billings, but its efficient, too, according to Ward.

The federal Medicare program spent about $7,600 per beneficiary in Billings in 2010, about half what the government spent on beneficiaries in such places as McAllen, Texas; and Miami. During their last six months of life, Medicare patients in Billings spent an average of 6.5 days in the hospital; in Miami, it was 15.5 days.

Eighty-seven percent of Billings residents report being in good, very good or excellent health. Yellowstone County residents health is among the top 25 percent of all U.S. counties.

Health care begets health

See original here:

Billings' health care system a significant part of the local economy, study shows