Side Effects: Obamacare Accelerates Hospital Job Losses

Kathryn Nix / November 15, 2010

Repeatedly, reports have shown that Obamacare will increase job loss.  But what happens when those who are laid off are the workers meant to enable the health care law’s expanded access of care: namely, hospital employees?

According to one hospital, layoffs of workers have already begun as a result of the new law. Leaders of Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana, said that although “the economy sparked this problem…the Obama Health Care Reform Act gave the hospital a one-two punch. While more people may soon get more health coverage, Obama’s plan cuts reimbursement dollars for hospitals at a time administrators say they could use them most.”

Obamacare includes $575 billion in cuts to Medicare to pay for a Medicaid expansion and a new entitlement program, which will provide generous subsidies for middle-class Americans to buy insurance. The cuts include slashes to hospitals’ reimbursement rates. (more…)