The American Health Care Act passed by the House of Representatives could be a serious job killer.
If the bill were to pass the Senate in its current form (the Senate is working on its version of the bill in secret so it’s hard to say just how different the Senate version is), the economy would lose 924,000 jobs over the next decade, according to a new report from George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health and the Commonwealth Fund. Overall state-level domestic products would fall by $93 billion and business output would drop by $148 billion by 2026.
Related: Here's How Much More You’ll Pay for Health Insurance Next Year
The 31 states that expanded Medicaid coverage would see the deepest and fastest economic losses.
The Republican plan would likely generate an initial economic growth spurt from the tax cuts aimed at higher-income taxpayers, Leighton Ku, director of the Center for Health Policy Research at the Milken Institute School for Public Health said in a statement. “However, cuts in funding for Medicaid and health subsidies then begin to deepen, triggering sharp job losses and broad disruption of state economies in the following years.”
New York State would be hardest hit, losing 86,000 jobs by 2026. Pennsylvania would lose the second highest number of jobs (85,000), followed by Florida (83,000). Even less populated states like West Virginia and Maine stand to lose about 10,000 jobs each.
Although President Trump touted the passage of AHCA in the House with a celebration in the Rose Garden, Trump reportedly told Republican Senators this week that they need to find a way to make the legislation “more generous” and “less mean.”
