Turns Out, When It Comes To Money Out Of Their Own Pockets, Young People Aren’t Stupid After All…

BY UTAH MAY 20, 2013

…and as the Washington Times reports, it may collapse Obamacare, the massive federal program that counted on young Americans paying for more expensive “insurance” policies so that money could be redistributed to other people. They may vote for Marxist policies and socialist – lite candidates but they won’t pay for them:

The political travails of the Affordable Care Act — aka Obamacare — continue, as witnessed by the furor surrounding Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius‘ attempts to solicit funds to pay for its implementation. Politics do garner the bulk of the media attention, and the public may think that partisan battles will determine the law’s future. A recent poll sponsored by the American Action Forum, though, shows that the nuts and bolts of consumer decision-making may be its real Achilles heel.

At the heart of Obamacare is the goal of expanded health insurance coverage, and the law as originally passed envisioned coverage for an additional 30 million or so Americans. About one-half of these would purchase their insurance in the so-called “exchanges” — state-based marketplaces where approved coverage will be for sale for individuals and small businesses to purchase. An elaborate system of government subsidies would assist insurance for those making up to $89,000. Of course, as was settled by the Supreme Court decision, those who do not purchase insurance will be subject to a penalty, or extra tax.

Younger Americans are central to this vision of broader insurance coverage. First, they are supposed to participate in insurance coverage, and the mandate and penalty are there to make sure that this comes to fruition. Second, by having the young in the insurance pool with their low health care costs, the insurance offered in the exchanges would be more attractive and affordable to older and sicker Americans. In effect, young Americans are supposed to be both key participants and the piggy bank of the expansion effort.

Unfortunately, health insurance is a product, not a social vision. What we know to be true thanks to ample survey and analytic research is that in 2014, Obamacare will cause insurance premiums to rise sharply for the healthy and young. When it comes to products, Americans aged 18 to 40 act like consumers of all ages everywhere: They have a price point, and when the price gets too high, they get busy making changes.

Evidence of these changes was gathered in late March and early April of this year, when the American Action Forum sponsored the first national poll of this demographic, specifically testing what effects various premium increases would have on consumers’ willingness to purchase coverage. Respondents were those who already purchase insurance and had very specific information regarding their monthly premiums and the penalty they would pay if they failed to continue to buy insurance. They were also provided with the dollars they would have to fork over if premiums rose 10 percent, 20 percent or 30 percent.

The results are illuminating. In this group of current insurance purchasers, only 83 percent will still purchase if premiums rise 10 percent; 65 percent, if premiums rise 20 percent; and only 55 percent, if premiums rise 30 percent. The economic lesson is simple: As premiums rise, eventually, some consumers reach a price point at which they simply stop buying health insurance.


The Laws of Free Enterprise still apply – if you want less of something, make it more expensive.

Now if we could just get them to stop voting with their heads up their asses.


http://therionorteline.com/2013/05/2...pid-after-all/