Just how many hours is it going to take to comply with thePatientProtection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)?

Enough time to build Mount Rushmore more than 1,500 times over,or to build the Empire State Building 27 times — at leastaccording to House Republicans.

The GOP lawmakers said complying with President Obama's healthcare law will take roughly 190 million hours per year. That's189,822,836 hours, to be exact.

Their report — contained in what they're callingthe Obamacare Burden Tracker — wascompiled by staff at the Ways and Means, Education and theWorkforce, and Energy and Commerce committees. It tallied 174different requirements of the law, and totaled the amount of workrequired to implement those requirements. The amount of eachrequirement was based on responsible agencies' own estimates.

Among the biggest time burdens? Changes to Medicaid eligibility, grandfatheredplan disclosures, mandatory calorie labeling on restaurant menusand tax credits to help small businesses pay for healthinsurance.

“Every hour and dollar spent complying with the Democrats'health care law are time and resources being taken from spendingtime with family, growing a business and creating jobs, or caringfor patients,” House Republicans said in a statement.

“Since many small businesses do not employin-house lawyers and accountants, compliance costs are especiallyexpensive and burdensome,” they said. “Given the new demands ofcomplying with the law, it is not surprising that over 70 percentof small businesses cite the health care law asa major obstacle to job creation.”

Republicans have been unrelenting in hammering the Obamaadministration over PPACA, arguing the law will do little toactually improve health care and its costs.

More recently, top Democrats have also expressed their concernsover the law's implementation. Max Baucus, a senior Democrat who helped write thelaw, made headlines when he predicted a“train wreck” coming for PPACA during an April budget hearing,citing concern that the exchanges for consumers and smallbusinesses wouldn't open on time in every state.

House Republicans launched the Obamacare Burden Tracker inFebruary as an online resource to help the public keep track of“all of the new government mandates, rules, and red tape as aresult of PPACA.” They said they will continue to update it as theadministration releases new rules.

In February, the tally was at 127 million hours annually, afigure Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) then called“just the tip of the iceberg” in challenges over the law.

“This is just another example of the Obama administrationplacing the burden of their policies on the backs of those who arealready doing more with less time and resources — families andsmall businesses,” Camp said in a statement in February.

Republicans also said much of the time burden would fall oninsurers, hospitals, doctors, consumers and employers.

The surge in hours of compliance, the lawmakers said, is likelyto grow as the administration updates and finalizes rules as thebulk of the law goes into effect Jan. 1.

This article was originally posted at LifeHealthPro.com, a sister site of CreditUnion Times.