In a study done by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2013, it was found that a projected 4.2 million Americans will quit their jobs come Jan. 1 with the initiation of Obamacare. This number was carefully projected after studying the patterns of unemployment that followed Tennessee’s Medicaid Program, which is structured in a similar manner to the Obamacare Program. It was found that many Americans who are currently employed stay at their jobs simply for the health benefits that they could otherwise not afford. It has been demonstrated that if health insurance is then available on a public exchange and affordable, that many people would subsequently quit their jobs. 

Under Obamacare, all Americans under the age of 65 will be able to receive affordable insurance by public exchange with no income requirements. The only notable exception being that those Americans who make higher then average income will then pay an increased deductible on the insurance. This is an almost identical construction to the Tennessee’s Medicaid Program making the comparison credible. Under the Tennessee Medicaid Program there were over 170,000 people who could no longer afford health insurance after being kicked out of the program. These Tennessee resident, who are grouped as childless adults, make up around 4 percent of the working population. It was found through a surge in Google searches that many if not all of these individuals immediately began a job search after being kicked out of the Medicaid Program. The employment rate of those who were kicked out of the program raised 5.7 percent within one year, which is much higher then any other state in the country thus demonstrating that with more affordable health care that isn’t linked to employment. There are many Americans who feel that there is no need for them to continue holding the jobs that they do and will quit them. 

There are many who are arguing that Obamacare will bring the end to jobs, but as every door closes another one opens. Though the daunting number of 4.2 million people quitting their jobs can be worrisome, it also creates new opportunity. It was found that most of the Americans who are planning on quitting their jobs fall into two categories. Those who were planning on retiring and just had to wait until they were 65 to qualify for Medicare and those who are spouses whose job purpose was to gain a form of coverage that the other was not receiving.

onsidering there is a current over surge of workers in many markets and fields currently within the United States, this could open new opportunity for those younger Americans to fill the void. Many are arguing that it will be very beneficial in that it gives Americans the room to have more flexibility in their job choices and allow them to take more risks in fields that they would have not been able to before. The biggest downside to this decrease in American workers is that of the costs that are going to be imposed on others. With the new taxes as well as the penalties that are going to be applied to those individuals and companies who choose not to comply with the new laws can cause a downturn and frustration among those already in the higher job sectors. 

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