As House Republicans move forward with a bill to repeal the “job killing” Affordable Care Act, they ignore the fact that the economy added 113,000 jobs during December 2010, topping 12 consecutive months of economic growth. Additionally, a Harvard economist released a report today demonstrating that repealing health care would have a hugely-negative economic outcome on job growth.
Harvard economist David Cutler argues in new paper released this morning that repealing the health law would reverse these gains and could destroy 250,000 to 400,000 jobs annually over the next decade. Eliminating the law would increase health care costs and cause employers to reduce wages and cut jobs for those employees who already receive minimum wage or are in fixed contracts.
The chart below shows the “net impact of repealing health reform on total employment.”
In fact, David Cutler proves that employers are already benefiting from the Affordable Care Act.
A growing number of employers are taking advantage of the tax credit that allows businesses with fewer than 25 workers and average wages under $50,000 to deduct up to 35% of the cost of the premiums they provide for their employees and many are receiving money from the law’s reinsurance program, which assists employers with retiree health costs. In 2014, small businesses will be able to use the new health insurance exchanges to pool resources and lower costs by covering their workers through a larger risk pool. All this would free up dollars that could then be used for job creation.