• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy

Kentucky Center for Economic Policy

   

  • About Us
  • Press Room
  • Events
  • Job Opportunities
  • Donate

Research That Works for Kentucky

  • Topics
    • Budget & Tax
    • Criminal Justice
    • Economic Security
    • Education
    • Health Care
    • Jobs & The Economy
  • Types
    • News
    • Op-Ed
    • Research

   

  • About Us
  • Press Room
  • Events
  • Job Opportunities
  • Donate

Copyright © 2021 KyPolicy Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Sitemap

Analysis

Eastern Kentucky Would Be Hardest Hit Place in Country by Job Loss from ACA Repeal, Report Says

Dustin Pugel | March 30, 2017

The House proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) died last Friday, but House leaders say they hope to regroup and try again. Kentucky and especially eastern Kentucky would experience major job loss if the House ends up passing legislation like it considered last week, according to a report released in the midst of the debate.

Stripping away the Medicaid expansion, capping traditional Medicaid funding and rolling back the marketplace subsidies would cost jobs by taking federal dollars out of doctors’ offices, hospitals and local economies. The analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) using the specifics from the now-failed ACA repeal bill estimates that Kentucky would face potential loss of more than 85,000 jobs from the bill by 2022 – 2.2 percent of all jobs in the state. This constitutes the biggest share of state-wide job losses of any state but New Mexico.

More On Health Care: KY Faces a Terrible COVID Christmas, Scary New Year. But ‘Freedom Fighters’ Bury Their Heads.

EPI’s analysis also breaks down the potential job losses by congressional district. At over 20,000 jobs, the 5th district in eastern Kentucky, represented in Congress by Hal Rogers, would lose more jobs than any other district in the country. The number of potential lost jobs for the 5th district is approximately double the 10,000 coal jobs eastern Kentucky has lost since 2011. That scale of lost jobs would be crushing for a region that already has the 6th-highest poverty rate of all 435 congressional districts.

It’s also worth noting that Kentucky’s 1st congressional district in western Kentucky, represented by James Comer, would potentially lose the 8th largest number of jobs among the nation’s districts.


The Affordable Care Act resulted in billions of federal dollars flowing in Kentucky, especially through the Medicaid expansion. That not only cut our uninsured rate in more than half, but created jobs and boosted our economy. All of that plus the real health and economic security gains Kentuckians are experiencing would be at risk if Washington revives a repeal effort. Kentucky, and especially eastern Kentucky, would be the epicenter of the harm.

FacebookTweetLinkedInEmail

Primary Sidebar

Get KyPolicy news updates in your inbox

Sign Up

Sidebar

Perspectives

Kentucky Must Remove the Roadblocks to Unemployment Insurance — Our Most Important Economic Stabilizer

Many Kentuckians Face Hunger and Hardship This Thanksgiving. They Need Relief.

Kentucky Lives and Livelihoods Are on the Line with Supreme Court Challenge to ACA

Letter to Governor Beshear: Priorities for Use of Remaining Coronavirus Relief Fund Monies

Congress Can’t Go Home Without Passing a Strong Aid Package

Other Health Care Items

Analysis

Kentucky Has Much to Lose if Supreme Court Strikes Down the Affordable Care Act

Analysis

Covering All Uninsured Black Kentuckians Is Crucial to Achieving Universal Coverage

Analysis

What’s in the HEROES Act for Kentucky

Ky. Policy

Footer

Research that works for Kentucky

433 Chestnut Street, Berea, KY 40403

Phone: 859-756-4605

General information and inquiries: info@kypolicy.org

   

Help us make the facts free and accessible to everyone. That’s how Kentucky will thrive.

Donate

  • Topics
    • Budget & Tax
    • Criminal Justice
    • Economic Security
    • Education
    • Health Care
    • Jobs & The Economy
  • Work
    • News
    • Op-Ed
    • Research
  • About Us
  • Press Room
  • Contact

Get KyPolicy news updates in your inbox

Sign Up

Copyright © 2021 KyPolicy Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Sitemap

made by P&P
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you consent to the use of cookies.OkPrivacy policy