The closer we get towards 2014, the more I am skeptical of the idea that this program is going to get more popular as it goes forward. Would people like to be able to buy cheap insurance that offers them a lot of coverage and choices? Of course. But pooling only gets you so far in reducing costs. And it comes with a major downside: in order to get the benefits, you have to force everyone to buy insurance.
What people are expecting seems to be a very expensive form of insurance (no gatekeepers or restrictions) on the cheap. What they’re going to get is cheap insurance that they will be forced to buy. Moreover, a significant number of workers are going to be dropped from their employer plans and dumped on the exchanges. An even more significant number of workers are going to be shunted onto Medicaid (as I understand it, if you’re eligible for Medicaid under the new rules, you have to go into Medicaid, even if you want to buy insurance through the exchanges instead)…
It is looking more and more as if PPACA as passed is simply not politically (or practically) stable. I think Democrats were counting on having more years in control to tweak it. That was a very dangerous gamble, especially considering how badly it did in the polls.
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