ObamaCare is here to stay, and that’s no help to Democrats

OBAMACARE IS HERE TO STAY, AND THAT’S NO HELP TO DEMOCRATS
David Axelrod said that those who dispute the official White House numbers on ObamaCare enrollments are part of the “black helicopter crowd.” And that dismissive, triumphal attitude was certainly on display as President Obama touted on Tuesday his claim that 7.1 million Americans had signed up for his health law. The underlying message is that the millions of enrollees will act as human shields against Republican efforts to repeal the law. Axelrod may break out the tinfoil hats, but it seems reasonable to ask just how many people rare really benefitting.
[Breitbart: “President Barack Obama’s home state of Hawaii's Obamacare exchange spent $35,749 per enrollee…]
7.1 million… er, 2.5 million… er, 1.2 million… er… - Forbes’ Avik Roy rounds up the available data estimating how many of the enrollees were uninsured before and concludes that only about a third are among the group whose new premium payments are intended to offset the cost of massive insurance regulations under the law. The basic idea of ObamaCare is to require pricier coverage but spread the cost out over a larger market expanded by the enticement of new federal subsidies and the threat of fines for those who don’t enroll. But if fewer than 2.5 million of the president’s mystery 7.1 million are really new to insurance that means dire consequences for everybody else. Yes, bailouts will help soften the blow for insurers, but a the rates being worked up even now by actuaries could still be disruptively high. And if studies that suggest that less than half of those 2.5 million ObamaCare newbies have actually paid, things get even worse.
Just a simple Hawaiian boy, his scrappy health secretary and a dog named Bo -“We didn’t make a hard sell: We didn’t have billions of dollars of commercials like some critics did.” – President Obama congratulating his team on the survival of his health law.