"Lott does not confine his attention to general guidelines for economic policy but dis- cusses specific programs as well. Of these Obamacare is the most controversial, and Lott makes clear from his chapter’s title what he thinks of it: “The Looming Obamacare Disaster.” Strong words, no doubt; but Lott makes good his claim. For one thing, the program cannot succeed without large increases in the number of people who purchase medical insurance: that is the point of the controversial “individual mandate.” But the mandate is highly unlikely to achieve what its proponents hope for it. “The Congressional Budget Office estimates that in 2015, Obamacare will cause twenty million people to purchase insurance. That number is crucial to its cost estimate because fines and insurance premiums are supposed to cover the program’s costs. That number is also completely unrealistic. Higher insurance premiums will cause more people to drop their insurance. The ranks of the uninsured may actually increase. . . . For all but the highest earners, then, it will make sense to skip the insurance and pay the fine. Americans will be able to save thousands of dollars every year by waiting to buy insurance until they are seriously ill or pregnant. . . . And more and more will do so as the price of the ‘same’ insurance increases.” (pp. 13–14) Defenders of Obamacare maintain that regardless of the program’s drawbacks, drastic action was needed to cope with a crisis in America’s health care. Lott’s response will surprise many, but it is based on his customary careful survey of the data. The supposed “crisis” does not exist. “Polls show that about 90 percent of Americans are happy with their health care . . . even the vast majority of uninsured Americans are happy with their care.” - mises.org/journals/fm/June2013.pdf
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 05:20:35 +0000
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