Critics of Obamacare say it will force employers to cut back on workers and will be a financial burden on businesses large and small. Indeed, the Congressional Budget Office's director testified in 2011 that federal health care reform could lead to the loss of 800,000 jobs.
But there’s a silver lining to health care reform that’s often overlooked: Many established businesses and startups view Obamacare as a huge growth opportunity—and will need to hire workers because of it. “In the end, it will probably all be a wash,” Brad Herring, an associate professor of health economics at Johns Hopkins University, told The Daily Beast recently.
Already, many tech firms have seen a surge in business and uptick in hiring in order to help design the public health insurance exchanges that go live on Oct. 1. But there are many other types of businesses that could see big success from Obamacare as well. Here are just three:
- Joshua Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital and brother of New York Observer publisher Jared Kushner, has co-founded Oscar Insurance, a new health insurance company that will be listed on New York’s health insurance exchange come Oct. 1. Kushner and his partners built an online portal for consumers that feels more like Facebook or Tumblr than Aetna or Blue Cross, according to a profile by the Washington Post. Oscar will also employing data mining to better direct customer’s health decision.
- Janet Freeman-Kraynak and Kevin Ryan of Sterling Medical Financial Services, a Pennsylvania-based company that provides medical billing services to health care providers, think their clients could use some help navigating Obamacare’s complex rules and options. They have started offering consultation services to patients in order to help them negotiate down their bills. “I think it’s just going to get more and more complicated” under Obamacare, Freeman-Kraynak told the Hatboro-Horsham Patch. “We’re sort of the necessary evil in the medical world.”
- Silicon Valley entrepreneur Parker Conrad and his new company Zenefits looks to replace the traditional insurance broker for small businesses with an automated way to research, buy and manage health insurance plans, according to PandoDaily. Conrad ended up believing in Obamacare because of his personal experience beating testicular cancer—the insurance issues related to his cancer history caused him to move from New York to California to start a business.
Of course, there are many Washington D.C. insiders who have also profited handsomely from Obamacare. As an article on TheBlaze points out, many people who had helped draft the Affordable Care Act have started health care lobbying and consulting firms. “More than 30 former administration officials, lawmakers and congressional staffers who worked on the healthcare law have set up shop on K Street since 2010,” The Hill reports.
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