Slowly, cautiously, Washington is opening for business and broader health care in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Gov. Jay Inslee recently allowed a resumption of some private construction, and he announced that outdoor activities such as hiking, golfing and fishing can resume on Monday with some restrictions. While golfing, for example, social distancing is still required and people may play in pairs, with foursomes allowed only if they are members of the same household.
In other words, Washingtonians can head into the woods without violating stay-at-home orders, be it in a state park or an unplanned trek while looking for a wayward golf ball.
The tepid reopening will require patience from the public and a watchful eye from public health officials. While the need to trigger economic activity is self-evident, so is a desire to prevent an uptick in coronavirus infections. The state’s swift and thorough response in the early days of the pandemic has been effective in flattening the curve of infections, but carelessness could quickly erase the gains that have been made.
That caution can be seen in Inslee’s actions regarding elective medical procedures. Care that is not essential to public health — but is likely considered essential by the patient — has been put on hold for the past several weeks. That includes items such as elective surgery, cancer screenings and physical therapy appointments, to name a few.
Among the issues surrounding this order is the importance of such procedures to hospitals and medical clinics. Medical facilities have seen revenue plummet in the wake of the ban, and there is a national concern that many hospitals — particularly in already underserved rural areas — will not financially survive the pandemic.
Inslee has acknowledged this, saying that allowing elective procedures will be good “from the revenue standpoint for hospitals and also for people who like to get their joints fixed.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the national gross domestic product fell about 4.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020 — even though the coronavirus did not really take hold until March. About half of that decline can be attributed to health care, indicating the huge impact that elective procedures and even co-payments for routine checkups can have on the economy. This has created the unusual situation where we have a recession led by the health care industry despite being in a pandemic.
As Jill Horowitz, a health policy expert at the UCLA School of Law, told The Seattle Times, “That’s how the money flows into the system — through these elective surgeries, or through bread-and-butter visits, and that’s gone … How long can these businesses survive without patients?”
The same can be asked about self-employed providers such as dentists or massage therapists. Overall, health care amounts to roughly one-sixth of the U.S. economy.
Eventually, the COVID-19 outbreak will lead to a sharp-edged review of the American health care system. Readiness for a pandemic will be reevaluated, as will the stability of the industry’s business model. But for now, the focus is on public health, along with restarting the economy and returning to some semblance of normalcy as safely as possible.
For Washingtonians, that might include a visit to a state park or a favorite fishing hole or golf course. It will not include a sit-down dinner — at least not yet. Caution, after all, is still required; we aren’t out of the woods yet.
