US Healthcare Sector NAICS 62
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Industry Summary
The 976,400 healthcare sector establishments in the US provide medical care, health services, and living accommodations to patients and residents. Services are paid for by medical insurers, patients, government programs, and families. The sector includes physicians offices, hospitals and clinics, mental health services, medical and imaging labs, home healthcare services, and nursing and residential care facilities.
Managing Rising Costs
The costs - particularly labor costs - of providing healthcare have increased steadily and have generally outpaced inflation.
Maintaining Skilled Staffing
Healthcare providers struggle with shortages of nurses, medical technicians, pharmacists, and other clinical workers.
Recent Developments
May 6, 2025 - States Sue Trump Administration Over HHS Changes
- Nineteen states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the federal government to block the Trump administration’s large-scale restructuring of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The plaintiffs argue that the restructuring is an “unconstitutional and illegal dismantling of the department.” They contend that the government has violated hundreds of laws and bypassed congressional authority by enacting the plan, leaving HHS unable to execute many vital functions. The plaintiffs also said that the restructuring has significantly hindered mental health and substance use services, HIV/AIDS response efforts, maternal mortality monitoring and disability support, among other key services.
- About 71% of global health system leaders expect their organizations' productivity to increase in 2025, according to The Deloitte US Center for Health Solutions survey. Accelerated digital transformation was cited as the issue most likely to impact global health systems in 2025. While health systems in some countries have been on a digital transformation journey for a decade or more, others are just getting started. About 70% of survey respondents said that investing in technology platforms for digital tools and services will be important for their organizations. Some 60% highlighted the need to invest in core technologies such as electronic medical records and enterprise resource planning software. About 90% of surveyed C-suite executives expect the use of digital technologies to accelerate in 2025, with half anticipating a significant impact.
- US juries ordered companies in 47 different industries to pay a nuclear verdict — a jury award exceeding $10 million — in 2023, according to Marathon Strategies. Awards in some healthcare cases have reached high eight- or nine-figure sums, according to Bloomberg Law, as seen in recent lawsuits by Radiology Partners and Envision Healthcare against UnitedHealthcare. There were 89 cases with verdicts of more than $10 million in the US, the highest in 15 years and a 27% increase since 2022. Of those, 27 cases topped $100 million, eight topped $500 million, and two were in excess of $1 billion. The latter are referred to as “thermonuclear verdicts.”
- Healthcare sector employment increased slightly during the first three months of 2025, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Healthcare industry sales are forecast to grow at a 3.29% compounded annual rate from 2025 to 2029, slower than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc.
Industry Revenue
US Healthcare Sector
Industry Structure
Industry size & Structure
The healthcare sector is comprised of 976,000 establishments that employ 22.5 million workers and generate $3.3 trillion in annual revenue, according to government sources.
- The healthcare sector represents 7% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs 11% of the country's workers.
- The sector is fragmented: the 20 largest firms represent 16% of revenue. The 50 largest firms represent 24.5% of revenue.
- In addition to employer establishments, the healthcare sector has nearly 1.3 million owner-operated establishments with no employees that generate $57.6 billion annually. Subsectors with the highest numbers of nonemployer establishments are home healthcare services (17.2%) and offices of physicians (10.7%). The owner of nonemployer establishments typically performs the work or uses contract labor.
- The health and education services sectors shed 167,000 establishments in 2021, which equals about 8.2% of existing establishments, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, the two sectors added about 250,000 new establishments, which is equivalent to 12.3% of existing establishments. As a result, the sectors had a growth rate of 4.1%.
- The healthcare sector is forecast to grow its employment base by 12.3% overall in 2021-2031, which is much higher than the national average of 5.3% for all jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Factors contributing to job gains in the healthcare sector include the expanding and aging population, and a greater volume of treatment and exams performed by physician assistants (PAs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs) under the supervision of MDs.
Industry Forecast
Industry Forecast
US Healthcare Sector Industry Growth
Source: Vertical IQ and Inforum
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