Healthcare Reform Doesn't Kill Jobs

The report says its findings are a confirmation of estimates by the Congressional Budget Office. A CBO 2010 report predicted job losses under the ACA to total less than half of one percent, mostly represented by workers choosing to retire early or work fewer hours.

"Both economic theory and the actual experience under reform in Massachusetts suggest that the ACA will have little impact on employment," reads the report from The Urban Institute. Originally published in June 2012, this month's update summarizes some of the economic thinking, but also analyzes the rate that employers offer insurance coverage and how that has changed since reform.

Before healthcare reform, Massachusetts' GDP grew at a slower rate than the rest of the country, according to the report. Then, after a year and a half of health reform, the recession began. From 2006 to 2008, while the nation's economy was roiling, Massachusetts' GDP continued to increase by 2.4 percent relative to the rest of the nation's 1.1 percent.