More on the health care mess

Perhaps I seek it out, but I found this piece from Charles Hugh Smith to be a well-done criticism of Obamacare. Not that it necessarily covers new ground, but it does include some anecdotal evidence of how costs are not going down for consumers for the same or an inferior product. He basically compares his own plan currently, as a self-employed individual, with the equivalent on the exchange and finds higher premiums, out-of-pocket caps and co-pays for the ACA offering. And in looking at the cheaper options, deductibles march even higher.

Next I take you to John Goodman’s blog (he of the book Priceless that I read last year) where he notes that the people signing up for the exchanges are weighing heavily towards the elderly and higher risk profile candidates. Remember, the ACA requires young, healthy people to sign-up in order to keep the program’s costs down. So far, it isn’t working out that way. The upshot is that the government will have to pay out more to the insurers to cover losses, and the insurers themselves will be motivated to raise premiums over time.