Video - CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf before Congress - Feb. 10, 2011
Keep in mind as you watch that CBO is an independent arm of Congress that is without political affiliation. They work with numbers and facts, not spin.
According to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office, the effecitve increase in the marginal tax rate that comes with the implimentation of the health care reform bill will reduce labor market participation to the tune of approximately 800,000 jobs.
In other words, people on the margin will game the system in trying to weigh the extra income from working more hours with the greater health care insurance subsidies that come with working less.
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Partial Transcript:
Rep. John Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, we'll -- and Dr. Elmendorf -- and we'll continue this conversation right now. First on health care, before I get to -- before I get to broader issues, you just mentioned that you believe -- or that in your estimate, that the health care law would reduce the labor used in the economy by about 1/2 of 1 percent, given that, I believe you say, there's 160 million full-time people working in '20-'21. That means that, in your estimation, the health care law would reduce employment by 800,000 in '20-'21. Is that correct?
CBO Director Elmendorf: Yes. The way I would put it is that we do estimate, as you said, that...employment will be about 160 million by the end of the decade. Half a percent of that is 800,000.
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