Why Americans Losing Insurance Won't Sign Up For ObamaCare

Back in 2010, the Obama Administration knew that 93 million Americans would lose their health insurance as a result of ObamaCare.  It was all part of the plan.  A plan that "assumed" that it would force Americans into either government-controlled Medicaid or the government-mandated health exchanges and, put America on a pathway to single-payer, socialized medicine.  But, their plan makes the false assumption that Americans, in losing their insurance, will be eager to replace it. 

The fact is that -- since the 1980's and with the rise of cheap imported goods -- Americans have found themselves losing their employer-based insurance as employers tried to stay competitive with imports by slashing their high costs of labor.  Essentially, as imports increased and people lost health coverage, the number of uninsured also increased.  You can clearly see the correlation from the following two charts.

Click on either chart to zoom

The simple fact is that when Americans lose their insurance, they aren't necessarily inclined to replace it.   Especially, if the costs are too high.  They will just try and do without and take advantage of any social safety nets that may already exist.  As a result, the implementation of ObamaCare  may just result in many more uninsured.  Remember, that by the end of December, more than 6 million lost their current coverage but only 2.2 million signed up for a replacement in the new exchanges. This is just the opposite of what ObamaCare was supposed to do.

By the way.  Often times you hear that 30 million are uninsured.  The chart (above) from the CDC, clearly shows that 43.3 million are going without insurance.  That 30 million is a stale number from the Clinton years. 

References:

CDC: National Health Statistics Report 2009: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr017.pdf

Forbes: Obama Officials In 2010: 93 Million Americans Will Be Unable To Keep Their Health Plans Under Obamacare: http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/10/31/obama-officials-in-2010-93-million-americans-will-be-unable-to-keep-their-health-plans-under-obamacare/