“In evaluating this new health care legislation, it’s important to consider not only how
the new law impacts the medical system, health care costs, and quality of care provided but
how the law affects businesses, workers, and the general economy. Unfortunately, as this
policy brief details, this law will have a significant negative impact on the business climate,
will discourage business expansion and job creation, and will slow economic growth.”
“CBO’s analysis of Obamacare predicts that it will reduce the amount of labor being used in the economy by roughly half a percent. Elmendorf states that this impact will be small, but in reality the impact is small only in relative terms. For instance, a half-percent loss in jobs in the American economy today would translate into about 750,000 additional Americans losing work.”
“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will cause significant harm to an economy already reeling from a significant recession. A new report from Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and John Barrasso (R-WY), both physicians, draws attention to just this issue.”
Insurance companies will be forced to comply with new mandates on their administrative spending. This new spending could drive many of them out of business if they have to pay large penalties. “The market is underestimating the impact of minimum MLRs on managed care earnings in 2011 — Unless plans are successful in obtaining the federal income tax adjustment and receive numerous waivers from HHS, our analysis of United’s Golden Rule subsidiary indicates that plans will be forced to pay bigger rebates next year than the market currently anticipates, which means the consensus earnings outlook for next year seems too high.”
“Right now we’re estimating the cost of the minimum benefit package that everyone will be required to have at $4,750 for individuals and $12,250 for families… That translates into a minimum health benefit of $2.28 an hour for full time workers (individual coverage) and $5.89 an hour (family coverage) for fulltime employees.”
“The White House had to play favorites with Senators and special interests to pass ObamaCare, and its implementation is no less ugly. But the waiver wave is most telling for what it says about the architects of this plan. By bending their own rules, they’re conceding their destructiveness.”
“This paper estimates PPACA will impose an additional, hidden cost of $157 billion to $494 billion in the form of reduced economic output. Related provisions (such as the so-called ‘doc fix’) could drive the economic losses to $550 billion, or more than half of the bill’s official cost estimates. Failing to account for this hidden tax multiplier biases legislative decisions toward more costly policies.”
“Well, Obamacare has barely started taking effect, and the evidence is already rolling in. I hate to say we told them so, but … we told them so. The laws of economics have struck back.”
“Now, six months after passage, there is no longer any credible, coherent argument that the law will make healthcare more affordable for small business – now, next year, or anytime in the foreseeable future. The evidence runs strongly in the other direction – that passage of the law will increase the costs for small business. The PPACA creates a maze of new costs – direct and indirect – as well as layer-upon-layer of uncertainty.”
“Our economy will have to find a way to restore its growth in spite of ObamaCare, not because of it.”