Health Law Implementation: Is The Overhaul Leading To Layoffs?
The Federal Reserve's "beige book" cites the law as a reason for layoffs and a hiring slowdown. Also, the National Retail Federation is backing efforts by some GOP congressional lawmakers to repeal the employer mandate.
The Hill: Fed: Obama's Health Law Leading To Layoffs
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday released an edition of its so-called "beige book," that said the 2010 health care law is being cited as a reason for layoffs and a slowdown in hiring…That line was found in a section of the Fed's report on employment, wages and prices. That same section also said the Atlanta district noted that health care regulations are so burdensome there is a shortage of compliance specialists (Kasperowicz).
The Hill: Retailers Group Backs Repeal Of Employer Mandate
A leading retail group is backing congressional Republican efforts to repeal key provision in President Obama's health care law that requires most employers provide benefits to their workers…NRF argues that the employer mandate is already stifling job growth because businesses are concerned about rising costs (Needham, 3/6).
And on another health law topic -
California Healthline: The Radical Rethinking Of Primary Care Starts Now
The Affordable Care Act does include a number of provisions intended to strengthen primary care; for example, the law increases payment rates for PCPs in 2013 and 2014, launches new training programs and includes a slew of pilots. Altogether, experts expect that the law will increase the number of PCPs by about 3,000 over a decade -- but that would still leave the nation more than 40,000 short by 2020, according to estimates from the Association of American Medical Colleges. That's partly because of the ACA's own coverage expansion. The nation will need as many as 7,000 more PCPs to care for the millions of newly insured patients under the law, one study concluded (Diamond, 3/6).
