Health Care & Prescription Drugs News

Los Angeles, CA – As Washington grapples with what yesterday’s election will mean for the health care reform bill, a new analysis from the consumer group California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) finds that the legislation will mean up to 43,000 more jobs created annually in California.  With job losses now the central economic issue confronting America, the analysis shows that the health care cost savings the bill will achieve will help businesses add new employees. 

“For years, rising costs have made hiring new employees more expensive than it should be-choking employment growth,” said CALPIRG Health Care Advocate Michael Russo.  “By holding down health care costs, health reform will mean a brighter future for job creation in California and across the country.”

CALPIRG’s projections are based on a January report from the Center for American Progress which found that reform could add between 250,000 and 400,000 jobs nationwide every year (that report is available online at http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/01/pdf/health_care_jobs.pdf).  CALPIRG’s analysis broke down those gains state by state, based on each state’s share of private national health expenditures. 

“We’ve got to put our country back to work,” said Russo.  “The vote in Massachusetts certainly makes the path to reform harder, but California’s Congressional representatives need to know that a vote for health reform is a vote for jobs.”