Is Obamacare killing jobs? Recent studies suggest it is not

Critics warned that Obamacare would kill jobs. It would make insurance so expensive that employers would have to cut back on hiring. And smaller companies would shed employees to get below the 50-worker threshold for having to provide coverage.

A recent study by the conservative-leaning American Action Forum purports to show that increases in employer insurance premiums caused by the Affordable Care Act have made small companies less likely to hire new workers or to raise wages for existing workers.

But if the ACA is causing employer premiums to increase, it is difficult to tell. A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the annual rate of increase in employer premiums is at the lowest level in decades. The cost of coverage grew by only 3% between 2013 and 2014. That's the smallest rate of increase since Kaiser started conducting the survey 16 years ago. And it's down from 5% in the years just before the ACA was enacted.

Another recent study by the Urban Institute found little evidence that the ACA is causing employers to switch workers from full-time to part-time status. The report concluded that a small uptick in part-time work that occurred last year is primarily due to the sluggish economy, not health reform.

Obamacare could have significant effects on employer-sponsored health care in the years ahead. These might include reductions in worker hours or wages at some companies. But the evidence we have to date indicates that this has not yet happened to any significant extent. And there no evidence to suggest that it will do so any time soon.

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