Contrary to predictions by critics of the Affordable Care Act prior to its implementation, the healthcare law has not caused employers to cut the number of their employees or reduce the hours they work.
That is the conclusion of a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In fact, states like Texas, which had high levels of uninsurance among workers prior to the ACA, have experienced higher growth in employment, salaries and productivity since the law’s enactment than comparable areas that historically had higher levels of insurance.
The bottom line is that in its first year of implementation, "it is unlikely the ACA had adverse labor market impacts," according to economist Maxim Pinkovskiy, author of the report. Nor did the healthcare law “substantially impede the recovery after the Great Recession.”
Pinkovsky studied economic trends since the rollout of the ACA both at the state and county levels. He compared Texas with Minnesota, a state that prior to the ACA had relatively high levels of insurance.
He also looked at neighboring counties that have similar demographics, but had different historical levels of insurance because they are separated by state lines.
In addition to positively affecting economic growth in formerly low-insurance areas, the ACA also improved productivity by freeing Americans from “job lock,” the report said.
Prior to the ACA, some workers with health problems were reluctant to leave employers that offered health insurance. Now, knowing they can obtain insurance, they are free to move to other employers or start companies of their own.