"If we can but prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people, under the pretence [sic] of taking care of them, they must become happy." –Thomas Jefferson
When evaluating the impact of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, most arguments focus almost entirely on the law’s fiscal impact. This is not an inappropriate context to frame the issue. The raw dollar cost of the bill is shocking. At $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years, Obamacare will be one of the more expensive pieces of domestic legislation ever devised—growing the already massive deficit by $700 billion. [1] Yet, both supporters and critics of the law fail to consider other burdens that Obamacare places on our government and economy.
The most striking example is the sheer number of labor hours that will be required to simply complete the necessary paperwork associated with more than 150 rules, regulations, and reporting requirements under the new system.
Labor is a resource just like any other raw material needed to perform a service or manufacture a good. As with any resource, labor hours are finite. This means that when a laborer is engaged in accomplishing one task for a given hour, there are limitless other tasks that will not be accomplished during that time. This is the opportunity cost of employment. In a perfect world, advantaged by a completely free market, available labor could spontaneously perform the tasks that are most efficient and beneficial to themselves or their employer, and thus benefit the broader economy. However, when government interferes and directs labor to meet the demands of central planning, the labor resources are redirected to tasks that would otherwise not be performed. These efforts generally produce the least value, subject to the yoke of inefficient bureaucracy.
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