What lasting impact will COVID-19 have on the U.S. healthcare industry?

The public health sector will be more heavily emphasized in the future

Question: What lasting impact will COVID-19 have on the U.S. healthcare industry?
Position1 of 3›: Systematic changes to the once rigid healthcare process will occur
Argument1 of 4›: The public health sector will be more heavily emphasized in the future

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused just about every country to go on lockdown. The volumes of public health data and transmission preventative measures have become the responsibility of a few public health workers. This has shown the flaw in the healthcare system and in the future, it is likely that the public health sector will be more heavily emphasized. More people will join this sector in the upcoming decade.

The argument

During the COVID-19 pandemic, terms such as flattening the curve, social distancing, and contact tracing are all becoming household terms. But few might recognize that these are the tasks public health officials perform on a day-to-day basis, regardless of whether there is a pandemic. Public health personnel has the responsibility of preventing disease and increasing healthcare equity for all communities. In the past, public health people have mainly worked with curbing the transmission of STDs and improving the health safety codes in workplaces, hospitals, and nursing homes. However, the pandemic has shown how there is a lack of these workers. In fact, there has been an estimated 250,000 public health worker deficit during the pandemic! There has been an enormous lag in processing public health data and stopping the spread of the virus. While many people once thought about this branch of medicine as a nice supplement, it has now proved to be vital. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected an 11% growth of Health Educators and Community Health Workers. This shows the trend for higher investment and involvement in public health. After the COVID-19 pandemic, it is likely that this sector of the healthcare industry will grow tremendously.

Premises

[P1]Pandemic responses like contact tracing and flattening the curve are the everyday work of public health officials, who prevent disease and improve health equity. [P2] COVID-19 exposed a severe shortage — an estimated 250,000-worker deficit — that lagged data processing and slowed containment. [P3] Now seen as vital rather than a supplement, the field is projected to grow, with the BLS forecasting 11% growth in community health roles. [C] Therefore, the public health sector will be more heavily emphasised in the future, one of the systematic changes COVID-19 will bring to US healthcare.

Counter-arguments

The public health sector in America was projected to grow at a very rapid pace prior to the pandemic itself. While the onset of the pandemic might have pushed some candidates to enter the field, this is not the case for many others. As of 2019 itself, the BLS predicted that the number of environmental scientists, health educators, biostatisticians and medical administrators was going to increase very quickly. This can be attributed to the aging population and the increase in preventative healthcare. While COVID-19 will have some impact on this field, it was predicted to grow way before the pandemic every happened.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] A staffing shortfall shows that demand outran supply during an emergency, not that funding or hiring will follow afterwards, and the premise offers nothing to indicate the deficit will be filled once the emergency passes. [Rejecting P3] The projection cited was made on the strength of an ageing population and a shift toward preventative care, trends already in place before the pandemic, so it records an existing trajectory rather than a change COVID-19 brought about.