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              Health Care, Social Assistance Revenues Up 6 Percent, 
                            Census Bureau Reports
                                
  The Commerce Department's Census Bureau reported today that revenues for the
nation's health care and social assistance industries increased by 6
percent between 1999 and 2000, from $1.00 trillion to $1.06 trillion.

  The tabulations, available on the Internet for both employer and
nonemployer firms, show revenues for physicians' offices increased 7
percent, to $215 billion; dentists' offices, 8 percent, to $61 billion;
and hospitals, 4 percent, to $430 billion.

  The overwhelming majority of health service revenues in 2000 -- 97 
percent, or $1.03 trillion -- were recorded by firms with paid employees 
(employer firms). They reported $971 billion in revenues in 1999.

  The major sources of revenues to physicians' offices in 2000 (employer
firms only) were:

  - Private insurance -- $97 billion or 48 percent;
  - Medicare -- $48 billion or 24 percent;
  - Patient "out-of-pocket" payments -- $23 billion or 11 percent; and
  - Medicaid -- $14 billion or 7 percent.

  Major sources of payments to hospitals were:

  - Private insurance payments -- $155 billion or 36 percent;
  - Medicare -- $139 billion or 32 percent; and 
  - Medicaid -- $52 billion or 12 percent.
                                
  The health care and social assistance estimates are contained in the
2000 Service Annual Survey report. The health care and social
assistance sector includes ambulatory health-care services, hospitals,
nursing and residential care facilities, and social assistance, such as
child and youth services, services for the elderly and persons with
disabilities, and child day care services. The tables show separate
estimates for taxable and tax-exempt, selected businesses. Subsequent
reports will cover computer services, selected financial industries, the
information sector, and trucking and warehousing.

  The data are subject to sampling variability and nonsampling errors.
Sources of nonsampling error include errors of response, nonreporting and
coverage. Measures of sampling variability, presented as relative standard
errors, are shown in the tables.