“False.” That’s how PoliFact ruled today when it examined Gov. Rick Scott’s assertion that the Affordable Care Act of 2010 is a “job killer.”
The day the U.S. Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments in the Florida-led challenge to the health care law, Scott made the media rounds, which included an appearance on Fox and Friends, during which he called the law the “biggest job killer ever.”
None of the folks who made the claim before now could back it up with valid projections of job losses, and instead presented partisan reports or skewed interpretations of independent reports as evidence.
One Republican document, “Obamacare: A Budget-Busting, Job-Killing Health Care Law,” claimed “independent analyses have determined that the health care law will cause significant job losses for the U.S. economy.” It cites a 2010 report by the CBO, which analyzes the impact of legislation, that allegedly determined the law would lead to roughly 650,000 lost jobs.
But the report didn’t say that.
It said the reduction in the amount of labor in the economy would be “roughly half a percent” — and not because of onerous regulation. Some workers around retirement age may decide to stop working earlier than they planned, the report states, pointing to the affordability of insurance to be offered outside of the workplace.
PolitiFact reported that when a spokesman for Scott was asked about the basis for his claim he said it was “a prediction based on conversations with business owners and other job creators.”
PolitiFact reported that Scott’s prediction, which the news site says is “based on anecdotal conversations with business owners,” is not “one steeped in credible, independent evidence — it’s more like a scare tactic.”
