While everyone screams about the five million policies cancelled so far, the would-be-hilarious-if-not-so-destructive website follies, the breathtaking costs and abysmal coverage of the government-mandated policies, and the apparent fecklessness of our healthcare-administrator-in-chief, a very important danger is going under-mentioned and under-considered. That is the shark circling this sinking ship: the impending economic impact of Obamacare.
As they say in the vernacular, this ain't rocket science. If it costs five million people twice as much for their health coverage, AND they get hit with punitive deductibles in the process, what will they not be able to do as much of anymore? That's right, spend money. If Joe is sending an extra $500 a month to an insurance company, Joe has how many less dollars a month to spend on other goods and services? Exactly, $500. That's not nothing.
A bronze plan in my zip code for my family of four would be about $600 a month... with a $12,600 deductible. Read this carefully. I will pay $600 each month for a plan that will require me to spend on average $1,050 a month before it helps me out with dollar one. (And yes, this is after my "government subsidy".)
At this time, "discretionary spending" is generally a wistful "maybe someday" kind of thing in my home. I'm not whining. God is good, and my family's needs are always met. But let me ask this question. Let's say my employer dumps us on Obamacare in a year (if our competitors do it...). I'm living within my means now, not wracking up credit cards but not having anything left over either... where exactly am I supposed to come up with a mind-bending $1,650 a month? That's a mortgage and two car payments where I'm from. Sometimes I get $20 from my bi-weekly paycheck as play money as things are. Maths are hard...
Fortunately for me, I am not an individual policy purchaser, and I am in the employer mandate delay grace period right now. (Hope springs eternal and I choose to prepare inasmuch as possible but hope that something happens to stop the train before the whole thing goes off the cliff.) But what about the guy like me who is an individual policy purchaser? Let's say the guy whose policy has been cancelled was already paying $600 a month for his policy. No problem, all he has to do now is come up with another mortgage payment. Is that a reasonable expectation? Do we live in a day where we can reasonably expect that the average family of four has an extra $1,000 at the end of the month they don't know what to do with now? That family is going to have to make changes and they're going to be serious changes. Sorry kids, the cell phones and data plans are gone. TV too, no more cable. And that takes the internet with it, sorry about your former social life. Guess that means we'll never be ordering anything off Amazon anymore. We'll be cutting the car insurance to the bare minimum, but I'm sure the lizard or pig or other talking animal du jour won't mind, it's all for a good cause. Disney World is going to have to wait until that magical time when the government starts to remember that people actually need some of that paycheck they work for. United Way? Sorry, not this year. Girl Scout cookies? Ibid. Red Cross, Salvation Army, Susan B. Komen, American Heart Association, firefighters with the boots at the intersections, MDA Labor Day Telethon, youngsters asking for money for missions trips, sorry all. Restaurants are off the table, pun intended. Starbucks? Hahahaha!!!! Birthdays are cancelled until further notice. 401k contribution is suspended in favor of purchasing groceries and heating the house... to 60 degrees. Getting rid of the dog, can't afford the dog food...
So now, five million or so policies have been cancelled. The employer mandate has been delayed a year. Ask yourself why it's been delayed a year. If it's a good and necessary thing as we were told ad nauseam when this thing was ramrodded through Congress, do it now, right? Let's say the current predictions are seriously overblown. Some analysts are saying 80 to 100 million will lose their employer-provided policies when the employer mandate kicks in. So let's say it's only half: 45 million. That's policies, not people. Imagine half of those are family plans. Let's guess we're talking about 60 million people who used to have money to spend who don't anymore. What exactly happens to our unicorn-driven economic recovery when a full 1/6 of the population suddenly stops spending money? And what happens to all those people?
