Republican's "mean" health care bill is a job killer

We know this thing the GOPers in the Senate are cooking up is "mean" (sez the Orange Cheato). Tens of millions will lose health insurance so gazillionaires can have a tax cut. They know ordinary citizens would scream bloody murder if they let us know what's in it, so they are writing it in secret, refuse to hold hearings, and intend to rush it through without any input from the public. This is legislating corruption.

But it is worth noting the Republican bill will also kill jobs in one of the best-functioning sectors of the economy. Several authors from the Center for Health Policy Research in the Department of Health Policy and Management within the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. have studied what the House-passed version of the bill will do to jobs. It's not a pretty picture.

... Coverage and spending-related policies are directly related to funding for health services (e.g., Medicaid, premium tax credits, high-risk pools). The reductions directly affect the health sector—hospitals, doctors’ offices, or pharmacies—but then flow out to other sectors. Thus, about two-fifths of jobs lost due to coverage policies are in the health sector while three-fifths are in other sectors. Tax changes affect consumption broadly, spreading effects over most job sectors. Within the health sector, job losses due to coverage-related cuts are much greater than gains due to tax repeal; losses in health care jobs begin immediately. In other sectors, employment grows at the beginning but later declines.

... Health care has been one of the main areas of job growth in recent years. Under the AHCA, the sector would lose jobs immediately, with a loss of 24,000 jobs in 2018. By 2026, 725,000 fewer health sector jobs would exist. This would be a major reversal from current trends. While our analysis shows other employment sectors grow initially, most other sectors would experience losses within a decade.

... This analysis finds that the net effect of the AHCA would be a loss of almost 1 million jobs by 2026, combined with 23 million more Americans without health insurance, according to the CBO.

Again -- there is no purpose here but for Republicans to give their rich friends a tax cut.

H/t Sarah Kliff for pointing to the study.