CBO: Obamacare Will Lead to Elimination of 800,000 Jobs

Claims that Obamacare includes “death panels” sparked the ire of supporters of the law, who called the claim outrageous, but now - as Obamacare turns 2 years old -- the Congressional Budget Office admits the law itself is going to kill the jobs of 800,000 Americans.

At a recent House Budget Committee hearing, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf confirmed as much, saying that indeed indeed “there would be a reduction of 800,000 workers.
UBS Research predicted the “death panel” impact of Obamacare on jobs last fall, issuing a report (“Great Suppression II) in September 2011, saying that the medical insurance law is “aguably the biggest impediment to hiring (particularly hiring of less skilled workers).”

Obamacare also is straining state and federal budgets and because it raises the cost of labor, “healthcare reform systematically discourages hiring, especially of low-wage workers whose mandated benefits are high relative to their wages,” UBS said.

As Obamacare turns 2 years old, the evidence of its job-killing effect has been piling up.

Here are a few examples:

In March 2010, medical device maker Medtronic warned that new Obamacare taxes on its products could force it to lay off a thousand workers. That warning stared to come true a year later when Medtronic cut about 2,100 jobs.

In January 2011, Abbott Laboratories, maker of the rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, announced it was cutting about 1,900 jobs. According to the Bloomberg report, Abbott said the job cuts were “in response to changes in the health- care industry, including U.S. health-care reform and the challenging regulatory environment.”

In November of 2011, Stryker Corp announced it would cut about 1,000 jobs, due to an impending Obamacare tax on medical devices. Stryker's products include artificial hips and knees.

CBO: Obamacare Will Lead to Elimination of 800,000 Jobs | NewsBusters.org