New CBO Report: More Employers Could Drop Health Coverage Under ObamaCare
The Congressional Budget Office has updated its expectations about how many people will be shifted out of their current employment-based health insurance. Initial projections indicated that about 3 million people would lose the coverage they currently have. CBO now expects that, on net, between 3 and 5 million fewer individuals will be enrolled in employer-based health insurance. In some ways, it's not a major increase; indeed, it may not be an increase at all. Reducing the number of individuals insured by their employers may have some positive effects; most analysts agree that one of the biggest problems with the American health system is its dependence on employer-sponsored insurance. The shift projected by the CBO, however, probably won't be large enough to fundamentally alter the system's structural problems, at least not any time soon. But it may prove disruptive for millions of individuals who end up switching coverage. And it's yet another reminder that the President was, at minimum, overpromising when he declared that those who like their health insurance plans can keep them.
More on how employers will respond to ObamaCare here and here.
