Some worry over impact from health care law repeal

Dayton Daily News (OH)

Jan. 13--The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday joined the U.S. Senate in passing a budget reconciliation measure that would allow Congress to de-fund key elements of the Affordable Care Act, including tax credit subsidies and federal funding for Medicaid expansion in states like Ohio.

While some are rejoicing over the move, replacing President Obama's controversial law could mean tens of thousands of Ohioans will lose their jobs over the next few years, according to a new study.

The majority of the job losses, including 126,000 in Ohio, would occur in 2019, resulting from a loss of $140 billion in federal funding for tax credits used to subsidize premium costs for people covered by private insurance under the health law, and federal funds used to expand Medicaid to millions of able-bodied Americans with incomes below the poverty level, the study says.

Total job losses could climb as high as 3 million positions in health care and other sectors by the year 2021, according to the study from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University and The Commonwealth Fund.

"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 Leighton Ku, lead author of the report.

But Greg Lawson, policy director of the conservative Buckeye Institute, said there's no reason to panic: "I don't think there's any serious consideration that the folks in Congress are going to immediately get rid of all of this. There will be significant reforms that will be forthcoming....but it's not going to happen overnight like flipping a switch."