In the Health Care Fight, a Political Focus on Jobs, With No Simple Answers

By ROBERT PEAR
NYT

WASHINGTON — As Republicans choreograph a House vote to repeal President Obama’s health care overhaul this week, no charge has stung Democrats more than the argument that the new law will “kill” jobs in an economy wobbling back to life.

In the fight over whether the law will create or destroy jobs, both political parties cite evidence to support their claims. But many economists say the effect on jobs is likely to be modest — neither so negative as Republicans assert nor so positive as Democrats contend.

In any event, economists say, the impact on jobs — a hot political issue now — is not a particularly good standard to use in evaluating a complex law that will affect one-sixth of the economy and almost every American.

For many experts, a more significant test is whether the law will slow the growth of health costs and provide greater value to consumers, taxpayers and employers in return for the $2.5 trillion a year they spend on health care.

(More here.)