Decline In Healthcare Spending Caused Half The Drop In First-Quarter GDP: The Irony Of Crowded Hospitals, Overworked Doctors And Much Less Healthcare For Everyone Else

From The Wall Street Journal, Real Time Economics, "Newsletter Special Edition: The Expansion Is Over" by Jeffrey Sparshott:

Personal consumption of services was less than 30% of GDP in 1957 and 1968. Services now dominate our economy, contributing 47% of GDP last year, and they have borne the brunt of social distancing. Services consumption, from travel to restaurants to doctors’ visits, tumbled 10.2%, annualized, in the first quarter, accounting for roughly all the net decline in quarterly output. Unlike goods, services can’t be stored in inventory and are seldom imported, so almost every dollar not spent on services comes straight out of Americans’ incomes. —Greg Ip
***Perhaps surprisingly, healthcare spending accounted for nearly half the drop in first-quarter GDP. Yes, the world is in the middle of a healthcare crisis. In all likelihood, consumers are putting off—or unable to schedule—elective and other apparently nonurgent procedures.

Source; The Wall St Journal, Real Time Economics