During the rancorous debate over Obamacare, President Barack Obama and his team said the president's healthcare plan was modeled on the system Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney implemented in Massachusetts.
However, a New York Times analysis by University of Chicago economics professor Casey B. Mulligan finds that Obamacare's impact on nationwide marginal tax rates will be 12 times greater than the rate increases under Romneycare in Massachusetts.
The finding holds critical implications for employment and work hours.
"It follows that the effect of the Affordable Care Act on employment and work hours would be roughly 12 times as great as the effect of the Massachusetts law," writes Mulligan. "The bottom line was that it was wrong to expect the two laws to have had the same effects."
Mulligan added: "Call me gloomy, but I'm one economist who thinks that adding, on average, five percentage points to marginal tax rates will noticeably depress the labor market, while adding a few tenths of a point in Massachusetts did not."
Obamacare's myriad delays and blown implementation deadlines have given Republicans a key issue for the 2014 midterm elections. The Republican National Committee recently launched its #ObamaCosts publicity campaign to highlight how Obamacare is killing jobs, lowering healthcare access, increasing premiums, and weakening the U.S. economy.
Obamacare's grand opening is in 25 days.
No comments:
Post a Comment