報告：健保法或拉低就業率

A report by the U.S. Congressional Budget Office predicts the new health care reform law will shrink the work force by more than 2 million full-time positions.

The report, released Tuesday, may fuel the debate over whether the health care reform law known as "Obamacare" is good for the economy. The CBO report said if people's health care plans are not tied to their employment status, fewer will choose to work and some who keep working may choose to work fewer hours. The predicted reduction in hours adds up to about 2.5 million fewer full-time positions by 2024.

Critics of Obamacare, including many Republicans, say the findings show that the plan will ultimately have an adverse effect on the economy. The White House is defending Obamacare, saying the report has not presented evidence that part-time employment has increased as a result of the health care act being implemented late last year.

The report says the long-term effects of the health care reforms are still unclear. It says over time, more people are expected to take advantage of the new coverage options, so enrollment is expected to increase sharply in 2015 and 2016.美國國會預算辦公室的一份報告預測，新的健保改革法將使勞動力減少200多萬個全職崗位。

星期二公佈的這份報告可能加劇被稱爲“奧巴馬健保”的醫療保健改革法是否有利於經濟的爭論。國會預算辦公室的報告說，如果人們的醫療保健計劃不跟其就業狀況掛鉤，選擇去工作的人就會更少，一些持續工作的人可能會選擇縮短工作時間。到2024年，預計將減少的時間合計約250萬個全職職位。

包括許多共和黨人在內的奧巴馬健保批評者們說，這些研究結果表明，這個健保計劃最終將對經濟造成不利影響。白宮爲奧巴馬健保辯護說，這份報告沒有提出證據證明兼職就業人數增加是醫療保健法案去年年底實施的結果。

報告說，醫療改革的長期影響目前仍不清楚。報告說，隨着時間的推移，越來越多的人預計將利用新健保的保險選項。因此，預計加入健保計劃者預計將在2015年和2016年大幅增加。