CBO Projects Obamacare Will Force 2 Million More People Out of the Workforce

According to the non-partisan CBO Obamacare is about to force another two million people out of the job market. Not just out of work but it will force people to work fewer hours or drop out of the job market altogether.

That's a major jump in the nonpartisan budget agency's projections and it suggests the health care law's incentives are driving businesses and people to choose government-sponsored benefits rather than work.

"CBO estimates that the ACA will reduce the total number of hours worked, on net, by about 1.5 to 2 percent during the period from 2017 to 2024, almost entirely because workers will choose to supply less labor — given the new taxes and other incentives they will face and the financial benefits some will receive," CBO analysts wrote in their new economic outlook.

The scorekeepers also said the rollout problems with the Affordable Care Act last year will mean only 6 million people sign up through the state-based exchanges, rather than the 7 million the CBO had originally projected.

The report also finds that the economic burden is most likely to be felt among low-wage employees. Instead of trying to score political points by attempting to raise the minimum wage, Democrats should focus on repealing ObamaCare and providing real economic relief to American workers?

President Obama routinely says his Administration is committed to creating jobs, but in reality his unpopular and unworkable health care law will lower wages, reduce hours, destroy jobs, and force millions of Americans out of the labor force.

From the Washington Post:

The Affordable Care Act will also reduce the number of fulltime workers by more than 2 million in coming years, congressional budget analysts said in the most detailed analysis of the law’s impact on jobs.

The CBO said the law’s impact on jobs would be mostly felt starting after 2016. The agency previously estimated that the economy would have 800,000 fewer jobs as a result of the law.

The impact is likely to be most felt, the CBO said, among low-wage workers. The agency said that most of the effect would come from Americans deciding not to seek work as a result of the ACA’s impact on the economy. Some workers may forgo employment, while others may reduce hours, for a equivalent of at least 2 million fulltime workers dropping out of the labor force.

This loss of jobs will be one more piece of President Obama's legacy.