Posted on 11/20/2013 3:03:23 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Writing at his New York Times blog, Paul Krugman warned that those banking on Obamacare to collapse are “probably making a very bad bet.”
As proof, Krugman points to the record of state-level healthcare exchanges, which by and large have been performing much better than their federal counterpart. He also cites the rising levels of Medicaid enrollment — which is occurring in both states that have and haven’t accepted the Obamacare expansion — and the slow improvement of Healthcare.gov as reasons for optimism. All in all, Krugman says, the law is “probably going to stumble through to the finish line.”
More from Krugman at the New York Times:
If all this is right, by the time open enrollment ends in March, millions of previously uninsured Americans will in fact have received coverage under the law, and reform will be irreversible. Obama personally may never recover his reputation; Democratic hopes of a wave election in 2014 are probably gone, although you never know. But anyone counting on Obamacare to collapse is probably making a very bad bet.
“Enron’s doing just fine”
It’s too early to tell.
We need to remember that a lot of folks are going to prosper from this (medicaid, waivers, subsidies).
Right now we’re only hearing the negatives.
Don’t underestimate the Chicago mob.
Killing a Zombie is an active exercise.
I’m afraid I have to agree with him. When was the last time the guvmint took down one of their own programs? Prohibition? It’s just not going to happen.
Here in CA I hear they have all the free loaders signing on quickly and everyone else is staying home.
Yes!!!! This is the confirmation we have been waiting for. Implosion on the way.
Who?
Wave bye-bye to the Dems.
I wonder if Paul’s going to want to change his bet when hundreds (maybe thousands) of extremely ill people who had their insurance cancelled by obamacare regulations and were unable to obtain and/or afford a new obamacare policy start to DIE after January 1, 2014 because they can no longer obtain health care. Obama and the Democrats are going to have blood on their hands if they persist in trying to implement their totally unworkable legislation.
Krugman’s been so right about its phenomincal success so far!
He can blame it on an alien invasion.
BTW govt needs more money to ward of the alien attack.
“He also cites the rising levels of Medicaid enrollment . . .”
So the big success that will prevent collapse is people signing up for free stuff? ZeroCare was a fiscal disaster BEFORE we learned that only old, sick people would sign up for the exchanges and that free Medicaid would have an overwhelmingly positive response.
The longer it stays, the more damage it is going to do.
The statewide exchanges may be working like like a fine Swiss watch, but this has nothing to do with the overall notion that whatever plans they are selling must conform to ACA guidelines which means: That for young people generally not needing much in the way of healthcare, their costs are going to explode. Additionally, vast numbers of apparent statewide signups are going to be dumped into Medicare or in the case of CA, Medicaid. Great numbers of docs aren’t going to accept the miserable level of compensation offered by either of these plans (witness so many docs not accepting m-care patients as-is)...and you have a recipe for a rapid and venal deterioration of the general level of healthcare but with rapidly escalating costs from the dumping of literally millions of patients into Medicare. So things might get a tad better over the near term in terms of not hearing about the disaster of the day from 0care et al; but the system will just go bust that much sooner.
But of course, one would have to have a brain and ponder things a bit or listen to people who have industry experience to reach such a conclusion instead of parroting utopian slogans.
It’s interesting that he uses the word “probably”.
The good news is that every one will health care. The bad news is it will be terrible health care along the lines of British or Canadian care. I just went on Medicare so somewhat protected from the cost escalations. But I’m already finding that some doctors won’t take Medicare. May soon be between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
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