If yesterday's testimony by Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf that the healthcare reform law could lead to 800,000 fewer people working is indicative of anything, it's that Democrats are in for a dogfight when it comes to continually having to justify the legislation, passed last March.
Republicans during a House Budget Committee hearing asked Elmendorf about the numbers, which were pulled from a report compiled by the CBO last summer.
"[I]f the reduction in the labor used was workers working the average number of hours in the economy and earning the average wage...there would be a reduction of 800,000 workers," he told Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.), Politico reports.
Specifically, the report predicts that because people will have better coverage options through expanded Medicaid and insurance exchanges run by the state, many will choose not to work.
"Since day one, Republicans have opposed Obamacare for a simple reason: it would destroy jobs," John Murray, deputy chief of staff for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told Politico. "Minority Leader Pelosi, [Senate Majority] Leader Reid and others said we were wrong. Guess not."
Last month, the House voted, 245-189, to repeal the law.
To learn more:
- read this Politico piece
- here's the CBO report from last August (.pdf)