The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 expanded access to health insurance for millions of Americans. One likely effect of greater health insurance coverage is more demand for health care services, which will lead to a growing need for health care workers. In collaboration with colleagues at University of Washington, University of California Berkeley, UCLA and University of Minnesota, Healthforce Center researchers have been examining the likely impact of the ACA on job growth.
Several studies have been completed, including examinations of the impact of the ACA on job opportunities for people of color, on job growth in California, and on how new jobs created by the ACA can help build career ladders and professional growth for workers. Current studies include an analysis of the potential impact of the ACA on wages for physicians and nurses, and a study of how new care models spurred by the ACA will change the demand for health care workers.
California Health Workforce Initiative
California Hospital Association
Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP)
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Service Employees International Union — United Health Workers Education Fund
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under cooperative agreement #U1CRH03712
Wage Growth for the Health Care Workforce: Projecting the Affordable Care Act Impact (2016)
The Demand for Health Care Workers Post-ACA (2015)
Impact of the 2010 Affordable Care Act on the California Health Care Labor Force (2015)
How Will Health Reform Affect Demand for RNs? (2014)
Health Care Workforce will be Tested by Reform (2012)
Health Reform and the Health Care Workforce (2012)
For more information, please contact Joanne Spetz.