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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – A repeal of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could lead to significant economic disruption and substantial job losses in every state, according to new research from The Commonwealth Fund and the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University. In 2019 alone, 2.6 million people could lose their jobs. These losses could rise to nearly 3 million positions in health care and other sectors of the economy by 2021.
The study examines the impact of a potential January 2019 repeal of two parts of the ACA: the federal premium tax credits that help low- and moderate-income people purchase insurance through the health insurance marketplaces and federal support for Medicaid expansion. Leaders of the Republican majority in Congress hope to advance a health reform repeal bill this month. It isn’t yet clear whether a repeal bill will include detailed replacement policies.
“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 the Milken Institute’s Leighton Ku, the lead author of the study. “Cuts in federal funding would not only harm the health care industry and its employees but could lead to serious economic distress for states, including a $1.5 trillion reduction in gross state product from 2019 to 2023.”
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