WASHINGTON – A report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts fewer people will be working and up to $1 trillion in new deficits due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The CBO is a non-partisan agency created in 1974 to provide economic data to Congress.
In Iowa, Republicans took particular glee in the mostly bad news for President Barack Obama’s health care plan for Americans, writing via social media: “LIKE and SHARE! The Congressional Budget Office announced the following ObamaCare news today: $1 trillion increase in projected deficits, 2.5 million fewer workers due to ObamaCare and 1 million fewer ObamaCare sign-ups than projected. Can’t wait for the White House’s spin.”
According to the report, compensation will increase over the coming decade, but that increase will be smaller than it would have been in the absence of the ACA. The decline in full-time-equivalent employment stemming from the ACA will consist of some people not being employed at all and other people working fewer hours. The estimated reduction stems almost entirely from a net decline in the amount of labor that workers choose to supply, rather than from a net drop in business’ demand for labor.
In other words, as health insurance coverage expands, more people will choose not to work and others will work fewer hours. The report said the fewer hours worked would be the equivalent of 2.5 million fewer full-time positions by the year 2024.
On the bright side for Democrats, according to the report, the expansion of health insurance makes it less-necessary for a person to work full-time in order to have adequate health insurance and the premium subsidies bolster household income since premiums tend to be lower.
The CBO report also finds that the deficit will continue to decline in the near term, falling by another $200 billion in the next two years, falling to 2.6 percent of GDP. Since the Affordable Care Act has passed, the private sector has added 8.1 million jobs, which is the fastest pace of private sector job growth since the late 1990s. Read more of the White House’s defense of the report, here.
Kellogg’s is a very large company that takes 20 percent right off the top of its profits. It goes to schools and the blind foundations. If you work for this company fo 25 years you are never destitute. The company takes care of you no matter if its your fault or not. The problem I have with the Corperate greed is these corporations need tax and utility breaks to make it. Some CEOs make outrageous amounts.they also have the pressure of being responsible for families, employes and stock holders. What pisses me off no one says anything about an actor who can make as much in one movie than a CEO makes in a year. An athlete for half a season or one album for a musician. The point is why is this not looked at as greed. These people are responsible for a few, maybe even just one.
@Buck- Great comments. This is something most people do not think about. Athlete’s and actor’s are grossly over paid.
This is exactly what our dictator president and the spend o crat party want. Vote for us and you can leech off the working all your lives. Just another blow to the responsible working class.
the problem with your thinking here is the fact that the working poor, who needs help, is a big part of the working class. Most people given the choice to earn a living wage or live with their hand out will choose to go to work. Corporate greed…now that’s the real problem.
Working for wages is for suckers.
@SUCKS-sure we will all turn into drug dealing criminals just like you.
I get it, he said wages is for suckers and his name is sucks, I think we have him figured out.
How can a President who says he loves this country do everything in his power to take it down? If the working people have to pay the bills, less working people is NOT the answer. How can this be so hard to understand? At this next election, some serious changes need to be made. All the free stuff is going to quit when no one can be taxed further. Obama’s only in there because of all the free stuff. Soon the s*** Is going to hit the fan. JMHO. Any tax payers out there have an answer?
@Annie-very well said. Why should we wait for the next election. Impeachment comes to mind.
Great idea, LVS. Only too many on the dole. Too many sitting on their duffs. People usually wake up when it hits them in the pocketbook. The media is not blindly going along with it all anymore. They are waking up. More and more are getting their head out of the sand and seeing it for what it is. All is not lost YET!!!
You’re ignorant Annie. The problem is not if too many people are “on the dole”…it’s the entire stupid system to begin with. Add the exportation of jobs and what do you expect? People need shelter regardless of what manufacturing is going on. YOU-R-IGNORANT.
The solution? Adopt a 50/50 socialist / capitalist system and stop worrying about it.
I have an answer. When the people who are mainly working to maintain eligibility for healthcare (perhaps for a spouse not old enough for medicare, for example)realize they no longer have to work because they can get coverage, they retire. Another example would be a spouse who has a ‘regular job’ so that their spouse can start up their own business that isn’t large enough yet to cover the medical insurance.
These people stepping out of those jobs opens them up for the millions of people on unemployment that we’ve seen a lot of people complain about funding. When it is the long employed retiring, they will most likely be replaced by someone who will be starting for less money, actually making the business stronger while at the same time updating the skillset. The spouse of the new business owner can now be free to join in at the business, increasing it.
If you can’t see that this is a good thing, I wonder if you are having your eyes shaded by some other source with an agenda to keep the USA divided and easier to control.
@mediator-that is bull. You have been drinking the Kool Aid to long. People have always been able to buy insurance on their own if they wanted. The only ones that had trouble were the ones with pre-existing. Even then they could come on as a spouse and it was cheaper for most people than it is under Obamacare. Everyone I know who makes 35 or 40K on up that is going on Obamacare has to pay a lot more in premium and deductible’s. Believe me I know as I researched it for my kids. People who work hard and succeed in getting their income up are paying for the deadheads that do not work.
It’s what the CBO report says and while your opinion is different, I’m not seeing that your anecdotal evidence is true.
None the less, if there are unemployed people waiting to take those jobs and the people leaving are paying for their insurance, how are we hurt? There’s no way to lose and plenty to gain.
@Mediator-You have to be blind not to see the drawbacks of this system. Even the Democrats are running away as fast as they can from this disaster. Why would you think unemployeed would be able to fill skilled jobs. There will be millions lost in taxes on top of what we are spending to fund this monstrosity. Two of my children lost their company partially paid insurance that was a 80/20 plan with a $500 deductible and now have to pay $600 for a $12,000 deductible that is a 70/30. Their one hope is they don’t get sick and end up in the hospital. A 5 day stay can easily cost 100K which would leave them owing 30K. The deadbeats don’t care as they were never going to pay the deductible anyway.
Not sure why you would denigrate blind people. You might want to look into why you say what you do.
Obviously, the CBO has determined quite differently than you have. Their rationale is quite clear while yours seems to be built upon…??
The very fact that you think the unemployed contain no skilled workers totally discredits your position. That wages not paid will simply become profits for business shows you haven’t thought through the tax implications.
In short, I invite you to rethink your entire position as it appears to be quite out of touch with reality.
If and when a worker starts earning a true living wage this problem will solve itself. Corporate greed is what is bringing this country down…not the President.
right
@DR Dunn-I will agree with you on the corporate greed comment. I have stated may, many times that the ruination of American business is the bonus system It makes greedy pigs out of all of them. If you ever come up with a solution let me know. I do not agree with you on the president, as I have said before his policy’s are going to ruin the country and even the Democrats are starting to see that.
I think you maybe overstating that democrats are starting to think his policies are ruining the country. I along with probably all democrats don’t agree with all of his policies and ideas. But we sure like his ideas and policies much more than what the tea party’s (who seem to be in control of the House) ideas are.
Now isn’t this great, I thought that people worked so they could afford material things, not just health insurance. To me, health insurance is somewhat of a benefit from working. Now it sounds like health insurance is going to be so cheap, (paid for by the government) that people won’t have to work the standard 40 hour week. I guess that I can forget about that used car I wanted, and whats going to happen to the economy when I only work 30 hours and won’t be able to afford to buy the groceries I need to feed my family. It seems that the government is setting us up so we have to be dependent on them for everything. Those are some scary numbers that the CBO is putting out. Does anyone else think this, or am I just confused…
@Allen-This is a 100% con job by the Obama administration. Don’t forget, Obama is the one who said you could keep you insurance if you like it. No one but a idiot would believe anything that guy would say.
Looks like there are quite a few idiots too.