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/

ObamaCare And Its Unbridled Regulatory Powers

One of the biggest problems with ObamaCare is that it was written in such a way that Health and Human Services (HHS) and the IRS have the power to create new mandates; completely circumventing the power of Congress.

A week ago last Friday,  Health and Human Services clearly proved this fact when that department issued a regulatory notification that a new tax of 3.5% will be imposed on all health insurance policies that are sold through exchanges in states that have refused to set up their own; thus forcing the federal government to establish its own exchange.  Right now, the governors of 21 states have said no to setting up a state-run health insurance exchange.

HHS claims this "user tax" is simply needed to cover their administrative costs of being forced to set up and maintain federal exchanges in lieu of state-run exchanges.  Now, that might well be true if this new tax was more in line with what HHS claims as administrative costs for maintaining other programs like Medicare.  But, this fee is higher; suggesting that it is not just simply a fee to cover administrative costs but, also, a form of punishment to those states who have elected to sidestep the non-binding mandates of ObamaCare. 

The bottom line is that this is a new tax; not passed into law by Congress and one that will hit all those in the middle class that are forced to buy insurance through exchanges.  Anyone who thinks that this kind of power isn't something that every American should worry about is just whistling past the graveyard.   My guess is that, as ObamaCare struggles financially, you can expect all kinds of new taxes on health care and you and I will have no representation in Congress to stop it.  To me, it sounds a lot like the rationale that was behind the original Boston Tea Party.

---  Washington Post: Feds Propose A 3.5% Fee On Insurers Who Want to Participate In New Health Care Markets: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/feds-propose-35-percent-fee-on-insurers-who-want-to-participate-in-new-health-care-markets/2012/11/30/31e36dc6-3b38-11e2-9258-ac7c78d5c680_story.html