American Health Care Reform 2010: New Potential Employment Benefits

Harvard and USC economists agree that the new national health care reform legistlation has the potential to generate between 250,000 and 400,000 new employment positions every year – for an entire decade. That’s a significant number to consider, especially on an annual basis. The rates at which medical costs will increase is expected to drop dramatically. By saving money on what they have to pay in for employee health care provision, employers of all sizes will be able to reallocate funds towards hiring new workers – and increasing the wages of existing workers.

Increased competition in the health insurance industry will also lead to decreased health care premium rates as well as increased quality of care provided. Health care administrative overhead expenses will likewise be reduced substantially. This in turn will allow for more efficient coordination and operational smoothness within individual health care facilities. In addition to hiring new employees and increasing wages, businesses will also be able to afford investments into more marketing, research, development and all other areas of product/service presentation.

David Cutler, leading Harvard economist states, “We could achieve huge productivity gains.” – and that possibility certainly does exist. However, other economists with more conservative inclinations – as well as many prominent business leaders – are firmly opposed to the new health care reform legislation. They state that the new legislation will destroy jobs, create billions of dollars of new taxes – and further weaken the economy by shifting the responsibility for medical care costs onto the workers and employees. And while proponents state that millions of new jobs will be created, those who oppose contest that more than 450,000 jobs will be eliminated over the next 10 years – not gained.

Small businesses with likewise small operating budgets are also expected to be hit hard by the effects of the new health care reform legislation. Throughout history, it has been small businesses that stimulate and renew economic growth after recession periods. With the billions in new taxes that will result from the new legistlation, many small businesses will be forced into early exits. Rex Hesterman, a senior policy analyst at the Bosley Foundation stated, “If small businesses are not hiring, you’ll have higher unemployment and slower wage growth.”

Many employers from California state that they have a difficult time excepting the results found by USC and Harvard. They say that they’re fed up because the average employer has been forced into paying yearly double-digit increases in health insurance costs – along with various other business related expenditures that continue to skyrocket.

As a compromise between the Sanate and House versions of the health care legistlation is sought, it is already known that the final bill will:

• Make it a legal requirement for almost all Americans to have and maintain health care insurance;
• Make health care coverage for the impoverished more far-reaching;
• Prevent insurance providers from denying coverage for preexisting health conditions;
• Impose multiple billions in new taxes on the insurance industry;
• Impose a seperate “Cadillac Tax” on upscale health care services;
• Places a cap on the amount of money that insurance companies are permitted to allocate to overhead;
• Requires that individual insurance companies spend preset amounts on providing health care services;

Health care reform has always been a hot issue with the American people. And while there will inevitably be arguments between opposing political sides, in order to affect any change, you have to begin somewhere. With both the House and the Senate in-gear and making strides toward accomplishing at least “something” – it’s refreshing for most Americans just to believe that their government actually cares. Of course, some times, only time can show true intentions.