The Equity Factor

Affordable Care Act Could Remove Shackles of Working Only for the Benefits

A new study finds that Americans might be willing to leave their jobs because of the Affordable Care Act, potentially opening up employment opportunities for others.

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The 2010 Affordable Care Act elicits various responses from predictably partisan Americans. Usually, it’s “Everyone deserves affordable health care!” or “Doom! Employers will have to eliminate jobs.”

A new study released today by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that nearly 1 million Americans might leave work because of the Affordable Care Act, alternately known as health care reform or “Obamacare.” And this outcome, overall, bodes well for job growth.

Let me explain: In 2005, Tennessee was forced to take 170,000 people off Medicaid because of state finances. About half the people who left were able to get private coverage through an employer. That is, they sought work in order to regain the benefits they had lost.

If there is one enticing thing about a stable job — aside from the paycheck allowing you to take care of your family, buy groceries, pay bills — it’s the benefits. Employer-provided health insurance is a coup for anyone who, like myself, has gone extended periods of time without it. People in Tennessee who lost Medicaid went back to work for the insurance.

The study predicts that we will see the flip side of that when ACA goes into effect: People will leave their jobs because of affordable health care options. Tal Gross, a co-author of the study, told Marketplace that the researchers expect about 900,000 people to leave their jobs. These are people, remember, who likely stay working only because it affords them health benefits they couldn’t get from the government.

That’s a lot of potential Americans leaving work to take advantage of taxpayer-subsidized health care. Will it open up jobs for other citizens looking for work? It’s all hypothetical — though the study’s findings are sound — but what we do know is that with ACA, people might be more willing to leave the workforce.

The Equity Factor is made possible with the support of the Surdna Foundation.

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Bill Bradley is a writer and reporter living in Brooklyn. His work has appeared in Deadspin, GQ, and Vanity Fair, among others.

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Tags: jobsequity factorhealthcarehealth

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