{"id":175,"date":"2014-02-26T15:06:56","date_gmt":"2014-02-26T15:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=175"},"modified":"2015-10-13T19:09:37","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T19:09:37","slug":"affordable-healthcare-job-loss-or-job-lock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2014\/02\/26\/affordable-healthcare-job-loss-or-job-lock\/","title":{"rendered":"Affordable Healthcare: Job Loss or Job Lock?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Controversy continues to rage over the alleged \u201cjob-killing\u201d effects of the Affordable Care Act and potential increases in the federal minimum wage. Kathleen Sebelius recently weighed in<\/a> on the Congressional Budget Office\u2019s report about the ACA, reminding us that the CBO\u2019s \u201c2 million jobs lost by 2017\u201d figure<\/a> comes from Americans cutting their work hours, not employers cutting their jobs to cover healthcare costs. With a new poll<\/a> showing Americans think the job market is the number-one problem today, however, why would we see these trends? The ACA and a higher minimum wage may not be a job-killers\u2014instead they remind us that employees can demand better working conditions.<\/p>\n

We shouldn\u2019t necessarily think of coverage programs in terms of \u201cjobs lost.\u201d Instead, giving employees affordable health coverage may actually free them from \u201cjob lock.\u201d Economic research shows that benefit programs can give low-income workers the security and potential mobility to seek out better jobs.<\/h5>\n