Healthcare workers are feeling the strain of the government shutdown

• Key Insight: Discover how shutdown-driven benefits uncertainty is reshaping healthcare workforce retention strategies.
• What's at Stake: Patient access, provider burnout, and hiring pipelines could face systemic disruption.
• Supporting Data: Up to 40% of federal workers — roughly 750,000 employees — impacted.
• Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

As the government shutdown enters yet another week, healthcare workers are being hit especially hard, facing an uncertain future for themselves and patients who rely on them.

Up to 40% of the federal workforce — roughly 750,000 employees — are feeling the impact of the current government shutdown, facing halted paychecks and the looming threat of layoffs. Among them are hundreds of thousands of healthcare and frontline workers, uncertain about how their benefits and livelihoods may be affected. The resulting stress and anxiety could ripple across the workforce long-term unless benefit leaders take decisive action.  

"Healthcare is its own standalone industry, but it's also a critical part of the entire country," says Morris Issacson, EVP at human resource and payroll management platform Empeon. "What affects healthcare affects families and loved ones beyond those doors." 

Read more: How leaders can support employees through the government shutdown

Healthcare workers have plenty of stressors and uncertainty to navigate — lost funding, reduced paid leave, and delayed retirement contributions, as well as the impact of federal bills on their patients. For example, millions of Americans could face significantly higher premiums if the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) premium tax credits expire at the end of 2025. The shutdown has delayed Congress's decision regarding the future of these credits, which have helped make health insurance affordable and were enhanced in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The shutdown and subsequent expiration of these credits will not only affect any ACA-dependent healthcare worker, it could also create an additional administrative burden as they help patients navigate the fallout — contributing further to  burnout rates.  

"There is already a tremendous amount of turnover in these fields," Issacson says. "As we move into open enrollment, just the fact that there's confusion around whether certain benefits are going to be impacted and how is causing concerns around the future of hiring and retention in the industry."

Lead with transparency

HR and benefit leaders' first instinct may be to try and proactively alleviate employee stress by keeping information under wraps until they themselves know more. But Issacson warns that strategy may end up making things worse. Employees expect their organization to address their concerns, and if they don't, employees will turn to the internet or less reputable sources for the answers to their questions. This risks spreading misinformation and increases employees' likelihood of panicking and acting rashly. In this case, honesty and transparency remains the best policy.   

Read more: How the government shutdown will impact jobs, Social Security and healthcare

"Tell them what you know and tell them what you don't know," Issacson says. "Most importantly, tell them what steps you're taking to make sure that things are going to be as smooth as possible in every way that you can." 

Although there is no indication of when exactly the shutdown will come to an end, Issacson encourages leaders to focus on the big picture and to not get too discouraged — they'll want to be prepared for when operations eventually resume again.  

"We can look to history to see that these things do tend to pass and get back to where they belong," Issacson says. "It's hard to hear that when there's this much uncertainty, but to know that there is going to be a brighter day down the line is a helpful thing to keep in mind as they weather the storm."