If you've noticed it's easier to get a same-day appointment at an urgent care clinic than it was five years ago, or that your Medicare Advantage plan keeps nudging you toward outpatient facilities instead of hospital stays, there's a workforce story behind that shift. The U.S. health sector is in the middle of a sustained hiring boom that is reshaping where care gets delivered, who delivers it, and — critically for Medicare beneficiaries — how your insurance plan is structured to pay for it.
According to federal labor data analyzed by KFF, the health sector added 378,500 jobs over the past year, representing a 2% increase. That may sound modest, but compare it to the rest of the non-farm economy, which grew by just 0.2% over the same period, and the contrast is striking. Healthcare is now one of the few corners of the American economy where employers are consistently adding workers rather than holding steady or cutting back. For Medicare beneficiaries, this matters because workforce availability is one of the primary factors that determines whether your plan's provider network is actually usable — or just a list of names on a website.
Healthcare jobs now account for 11.6% of all non-farm employment in the United States, up from 10.7% a decade ago, according to KFF's analysis of federal labor data. Since 1990, health sector employment has grown more than three times as fast as all other non-health, non-farm employment sectors combined. That's a generational transformation in the size and shape of the healthcare workforce — and it has direct implications for the Medicare Advantage market, which now covers more than 33 million Americans, according to CMS.gov data from 2024 enrollment figures.
The most dramatic growth has happened in outpatient settings, which are up 40% since August 2016. This isn't a coincidence — it reflects a deliberate push by both Medicare policy and private insurers to move care out of expensive hospital settings and into ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient clinics, and specialist offices. Medicare Advantage plans have been at the forefront of this shift. Many MA plans in 2026 offer $0 copays for outpatient procedures that would carry significant cost-sharing if done in a hospital outpatient department. If your plan covers a knee arthroscopy at an ambulatory surgery center for a $150 copay but charges you 20% coinsurance at a hospital outpatient department — which could easily reach $800 or more — the workforce trend toward outpatient settings is directly affecting your wallet.
For Medicare Advantage enrollees specifically, the growth in outpatient healthcare jobs means that plan networks are increasingly built around these non-hospital settings. When you're comparing MA plans during the Annual Enrollment Period — which runs October 15 through December 7 each year — it's worth asking not just whether your doctor is in-network, but whether the outpatient facilities your doctor uses are also in-network. A surgeon can be in-network while the surgery center they prefer is out-of-network, leaving you with a surprise bill. This is a structural feature of how MA networks are constructed, and the outpatient workforce boom makes it more relevant than ever.
Data Snapshot: According to CMS.gov data, there were 3,959 Medicare Advantage plans available nationwide for the 2024 plan year, with an average monthly premium of approximately $18.50 for plans that include prescription drug coverage. Star ratings data from CMS shows that roughly 51% of Medicare Advantage enrollees were in plans rated 4 stars or higher in 2024 — a metric that affects whether plans receive quality bonus payments, which in turn can fund extra benefits like dental, vision, and hearing coverage. As the outpatient workforce grows and MA plans increasingly contract with these settings, the quality and breadth of those networks will become a more important factor in star ratings going forward.
The wage side of the workforce story also deserves attention. Healthcare wage growth has slowed slightly compared to other industries over the past three years, according to KFF's analysis. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, healthcare employers — particularly hospitals and nursing facilities — were paying enormous premiums to attract and retain workers, including travel nurses earning $5,000 or more per week in some markets. That wage inflation contributed to rising healthcare costs across the board, which ultimately filtered into higher Medicare Advantage premiums and tighter plan benefits. The recent moderation in healthcare wage growth is a potentially positive signal for cost stability, though it has not yet translated into meaningfully lower premiums for most beneficiaries.
For those enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, the connection between workforce trends and your plan's costs runs through something called the medical loss ratio — the percentage of premium revenue that insurers must spend on actual medical care. Federal law requires MA plans to spend at least 85% of premiums on care. When labor costs for providers rise sharply, the cost of delivering that care goes up, and insurers either raise premiums, reduce benefits, or narrow networks to compensate. The recent easing of healthcare wage growth may give some insurers more room to hold premiums steady or restore benefits that were trimmed in recent years — but this varies significantly by plan and by region.
Geographically, the healthcare workforce boom is not evenly distributed. Rural areas and certain states continue to face significant provider shortages even as national employment numbers look healthy. If you live in a rural county and are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage HMO — which requires you to use in-network providers except in emergencies — a thin local provider network can mean long drives for specialist care or difficulty getting timely appointments. Medicare Advantage PPO plans offer more flexibility to see out-of-network providers, though typically at higher cost-sharing. If you're in a rural area and considering switching plans during the Annual Enrollment Period this fall, comparing HMO versus PPO structures may be more important than comparing premiums alone.
The growth in outpatient healthcare jobs also intersects with the expansion of telehealth services, which many Medicare Advantage plans now cover as a standard benefit. Since 2020, telehealth utilization among Medicare beneficiaries has grown substantially, and many of the new healthcare jobs being created are in virtual care settings — nurse practitioners and physician assistants conducting video visits, remote patient monitoring coordinators, and care managers working with chronically ill patients by phone. If your Medicare Advantage plan includes telehealth benefits, you may already be benefiting from this workforce expansion without realizing it. Check your plan's Evidence of Coverage document — typically mailed in late September or early October — to see exactly what telehealth services are covered and whether they require a copay.
One area where the workforce boom has not fully solved the problem is mental health and behavioral health services. Despite overall healthcare employment growth, psychiatrists and licensed clinical social workers remain in short supply in many markets, and Medicare Advantage plans have historically had narrower behavioral health networks than their medical networks. If mental health coverage is a priority for you or a family member, it's worth specifically verifying behavioral health network adequacy before enrolling in or renewing a Medicare Advantage plan. You can use the Medicare Plan Finder tool at Medicare.gov to compare plans, and you can call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to ask specific questions about network coverage in your area.
For beneficiaries who are approaching their 65th birthday or who are still in their Initial Enrollment Period — the seven-month window surrounding your 65th birthday — the workforce trends described here underscore why choosing between Original Medicare with a Medigap supplement and a Medicare Advantage plan requires careful thought. Original Medicare gives you access to any provider who accepts Medicare nationwide, which is a significant advantage if you live in an area with thin MA networks or if you travel frequently. Medicare Advantage plans may offer lower premiums and extra benefits, but they come with network restrictions that are directly tied to the local healthcare workforce landscape.
If you're already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan and want to make a change, remember that the Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7, with changes taking effect January 1. There is also an Open Enrollment Period from January 1 through March 31, during which MA enrollees can switch to a different MA plan or return to Original Medicare once. Outside of these windows, you generally need a Special Enrollment Period triggered by a qualifying life event — such as moving to a new service area, losing employer coverage, or your plan leaving the market — to make changes to your coverage.
The bottom line for Medicare beneficiaries is this: the healthcare workforce is growing, and it's growing fastest in the outpatient settings that Medicare Advantage plans are increasingly built around. That's not inherently good or bad — it depends entirely on whether the plans available in your area have built networks that actually connect you to those providers. Use this Annual Enrollment Period to look beyond the premium and ask hard questions about where your care will actually be delivered, who will deliver it, and what you'll pay when you get there. The workforce data tells us the supply of healthcare workers is expanding — your job is to make sure your plan gives you real access to them.