Obamacare repeal costs: 3 million jobs gone, $1.5 trillion in lost gross state product

[Grey Lemercier]

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/05/obamacare-repeal-costs-3-million-lost-jobs.html

Spending less by getting rid of Obamacare could end up costing a whole lot more.

Up to 3 million jobs in the health sector and other areas would be lost if certain key provisions of the Affordable Care Act are repealed by Congress, a new report said Thursday. At the same time, ending those provisions could lead to a whopping $1.5 trillion reduction in gross state product from 2019 through 2023, according to the study.

"Repealing key parts of the ACA could trigger massive job losses and a slump in consumer and business spending that would affect all sectors of state economies," said Leighton Ku, director of the Center for Health Policy Research and professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. Ku is the lead author of the report, which was issued by the Milken Institute and the Commonwealth Fund.

The report comes as President-elect Donald Trump and the new Congress are moving toward repealing parts of the ACA through the budget reconciliation process. "The immediate and most visible effect of ACA repeal would be the loss of coverage and access to care for millions of people who have gained insurance because of the law," said Sara Collins, vice president for health-care coverage and access at the Commonwealth Fund. "This study points to even larger potential economic effects that would be detrimental to the health and well-being of millions more," Collins said.

The estimate of job and state product losses are based on a scenario in which Congress defunds federal subsidies that most Obamacare customers receive to help lower their monthly insurance premium costs, and also gets rid of funding to cover adults who became newly eligible for Medicaid under the ACA. Repealing both provisions would save the federal government $140 billion in health-care spending, the report found. And as that funding spigot dried up, it would lead to job losses and a drop in gross state product, the report said.

snip


the report

Repealing Federal Health Reform: Economic and Employment Consequences for States

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Issue-Briefs/2017/Jan/Repealing-Federal-Health-Reform

[liberal N proud]

1. For the republicans, repealing social programs is paramount over cost

[Sherman A1]

3. Agreed

social programs must be eliminated despite any cost to the country, it's economy or it's people.

[flamingdem]

2. Luckily it has become entrenched

but that won't stop Ryan and crew from ignoring the facts in favor of their ideology.

Did it ever stop the Republicans?

The silver lining is that we'll now see a true referendum on Obama and on sanity in our country. People will learn the hard way they've been lied to when they lose their job and their insurance. Try paying for Cobra, now that's a ripoff.

[Jimbo101]

4. You know if Sen. Tom Cotton is urging caution ,.......

https://twitter.com/MeetThePress/status/817132067259609088

“I don’t think we can just repeal Obamacare and say we’re going to get the answer two years from now.”