EDITORIAL: A healthy economy at risk

March 29--Congressional Republicans' initial attempt at replacing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, with something new has gone down in flames, but the issue is not dead. As lawmakers consider what to do next, Oregon -- and especially Southern Oregon -- has a great deal to lose.

In Sunday's Mail Tribune, reporter Vicki Aldous detailed in dollars and cents what Obamacare has meant to the Rogue Valley. The report describes huge growth in jobs and in money spent on health care.

From January 2016, the Medford metropolitan area added 470 jobs in health and social assistance, which now accounts for one in every six local jobs. Much of that money came from the federal government in expanded Medicaid coverage for low-income Oregonians, and the state is scheduled to pick up much of the cost if Obamacare remains intact. That is contributing to the state's budget shortfall.

It's also true that Obamacare has not been a resounding success for everyone. Some individuals have trouble affording health insurance premiums even with the government subsidies available.

Many others, however, have found themselves able to obtain health insurance for the first time in their lives. That, combined with the additional numbers enrolled in Medicaid, has contributed to the growth of the medical industry in Southern Oregon.

Despite its flaws, any move to dismantle the system Obamacare put in place risks making those jobs go away. Completely repealing Obamacare, which the conservative Liberty Caucus in the House wants to do, would mean the loss of 42,000 jobs across Oregon, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

There are no easy answers here. As President Donald Trump learned to his dismay, health care is really complicated. But as Congress considers what to do about it going forward, it should move carefully to avoid destroying much of what Obamacare has built, and prevent real damage to state and local economies, not to mention the health care of millions of Americans.

Conservatives are fond of saying that government doesn't create jobs. The 14,400 people in the Medford area working in health and social assistance might beg to differ.

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