Hatch says Non-Partisan Scorekeeper Agrees, Obamacare Hurts Jobs

CBO Says Health Law Projected to Cut Labor Force by Two Million

WASHINGTON – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) today issued the following statement after the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report that found under President Obama’s health law, the labor force is projected to be without about two million full-time-equivalent workers in 2025 than it would be otherwise: 

“When the President’s health law hurts the labor force at the same time it increases healthcare premiums and taxes, it’s clear the law is not working for the American people.  The CBO’s latest report confirms yet another broken promise and negative consequence stemming from Obamacare.  Unfortunately, until Democrats and the President are willing to address these failures, the American people will be left to stomach the devastating side effects of this ill-advised health law.”

A summary of the CBO’s findings include:

• “The labor force is projected to be about 2 million full-time-equivalent workers smaller in 2025 under the ACA than it would have been otherwise.”
• “Some provisions of the law will raise effective tax rates on earnings from labor…and thus reduce the amount of labor that workers choose to supply.”
• “Other provisions will reduce the labor supply by imposing higher taxes on labor income directly.”

Last week, Hatch voted in a favor of a measure that passed the Senate to repeal Obamacare and delivered a floor speech detailing reasons why Senate Republicans are committed to repealing the President’s healthcare law.

Hatch is the coauthor of the Patient CARE Act, a legislative plan that repeals Obamacare and replaces it with cost-addressing measures, with Sen. Richard Burr and Rep. Fred Upton.  

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