A new report suggests that as a result of the Affordable Care Act, millions of Americans may wind up losing both their employee benefits and their jobs in the coming years, as business owners pare back their staff levels in order to save on costs.
In its "Budget and Economic Outlook" report, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office revised its earlier estimate of approximately 800,000 people being laid off from their jobs as a result of the health reform law, saying that the number will likely be closer to 2.3 million.
As noted by Forbes magazine, the CBO based this estimate on the exchange subsidies that stem from the health reform law, as they "effectively constitute a tax on labor supply for a broad range of workers."
Critics of the ACA, mainly lawmakers on Capitol Hill, reacted to the announcement shortly after the report was made available to the public in the afternoon on Feb. 4.
"Washington can't continue to ignore the problem: trillions of dollars in empty losses," said Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, in a press release. "And ObamaCare is only making things worse. This costly law is not only pushing government spending to new heights; it is disrupting coverage and leaving millions of Americans worse off."
He added that the ACA may ultimately do the opposite of what was intended by insuring fewer people throughout the country.
According to analysis performed by Fox News, more than 5 million people have lost their health insurance plans since the enrollment period for the ACA began in October. However, President Barack Obama has stated that the law has led to 9 million Americans securing private health insurance plans and/or Medicaid, though these numbers have been disputed.
