CBO Report Predicts Health Care Law Means Fewer Jobs, Lower Wages

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) made the following statement in response to today’s report released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which shows that the health care law slams employers with increased health costs, and predicts job losses as a result.

“This week the number of unemployed Americans reached 500,000, the highest level seen in the past nine months. Unfortunately, the new health care law makes a bad job market even worse,” Senator Enzi said. “The CBO report confirms that the health care law will increase labor costs, and will discourage employers from expanding their businesses and investing in their workers.”

CBO’s report indicated that businesses with 50 or more employees will face penalties under the health care law if they do not offer health insurance. Those penalties will generally be passed on to workers through reductions in wages or other forms of compensation, leading some employers to hire fewer workers or hire more part-time workers. 

“During the health care debate, I offered an amendment to strike the burdensome employer mandate. Although my amendment was not accepted by the Majority, I will continue to work to fix the law to prevent more people from losing their jobs and having their take-home pay cut.”