Scorecard For The ObamaCare Debacle

Monty Pelerin * EconomicNoise.com

The debacle known as ObamaCare continues.

The game isn’t over, but early returns are … well, they are virtually nonexistent if you mean enrollees. The system is an unmitigated disaster that is destined to get worse before it gets better.

The website, bearing the brunt of most criticism is unlikely to be fixed by the end of this month. In hindsight, it will be seen as one of the lesser issues with the program. When the true costs and effects on doctors and patients are known, the inability to sign up may be considered an asset in retrospect.

ObamaCare has little hope of gaining popular support. A healthcare system in which 80% of participants were happy, provided an extreme test of why the folksy advice — “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” should not be ignored. Politicians whose favorability ratings were in the teens believed they could take away a product with 80% favorables. Apparently political ideology overwhelms common stupidity and raises it to new levels.

Few, other than those who jobs are dependent on it, now argue that the “fixin” was an improvement. This Rube Goldberg system will eventually work in some fashion, but it will never work as well as what it demolished.

A small minority may eventually benefit by being the recipients of this forced wealth transfer. Most will be made worse off, as they are forced to subsidize others through higher premiums, less choices and deteriorating quality and quantity of medical care.

An elementary lesson that government never learns or refuses to accept is at work here. Voluntary exchange, by definition, improves the position of both parties or it would not take place. Consumers and producers benefit. That was the basis of health care in this country.

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http://www.economicnoise.com/2013/11/11/scorecard-obamacare-debacle/