Obamacare: The Good News Keeps On Coming

Update: "A Majority Of Americans Think Obamacare Is Working"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-majority-of-americans-think-obamacare.html

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The Hard Central Fact Of Contemporary Conservatism

The hard, central "fact" of contemporary "conservatism" is its insistence on a socio-economic threshold above which people deserve government assistance, and below which people deserve to die. 

The sooner the better. 

Unless conservatives are showing n'er-do-wells The Door of Doom, they just don't "feel right." 

To allay this chthonic anxiety, they resort to Human Sacrifice,  hoping that spilled blood will placate "the angry gods," including the one they've made of themselves. http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/09/harvard-study-45000-americans-die.html 

Having poked their eyes out, they fail to see  that self-generated wrath creates "the gods" who hold them thrall

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-hard-central-fact-of-contemporary.html

Almost "to a man," contemporary "conservatives" have apotheosized themselves and now -- sitting on God's usurped throne -- are rabid to pass final judgment. 

Self-proclaimed Christians, eager to thrust "the undeserving" through The Gates of Hell, are the very people most likely to cross its threshold. 

Remarkably, none of them are tempted to believe this. 

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States that have embraced Obamacare saw their uninsured rate drop this year three times faster than the states that didn't.

States that embrace Obamacare are doing much better at insuring people than non-embracing states are. "Gallup reports that states which fully embraced the law by setting up their own exchanges and expanding their Medicaid programs saw their uninsured rate drop this year three times faster than the states that didn't....Meanwhile, the Urban Institute...finds that states that expanded their Medicaid programs saw their uninsured rate drop 4 percent, while states that didn't expand saw a much slower drop at 1.5 percent." Jason Millman in The Washington Post.

Gallup: 12 million previously uninsured have gained coverage since fall. "That is millions more than Gallup found in March and suggests that as many as 4 million people have signed up for some kind of insurance in the last several weeks as the first enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act drew to a close. Just 12.9% of adults nationally lacked coverage in the first half of April, initial data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index indicate. That's the lowest rate since the survey began in 2008. Eighteen percent were uninsured in the third quarter of 2013, just before Americans could start shopping for coverage on the new online marketplaces created by the law. Gallup pollsters cautioned that the data are preliminary but said it is increasingly clear the health law is responsible for the gains.Noam Levey in the Los Angeles Times.

Primary sources:

Poll: Uninsured rate drops more in states that embraced health care law. Gallup.

Rapid increase in health insurance coverage under the ACA. Urban Institute.

Poll: Newly insured represent 4 percent of all U.S. adults. Gallup.

Poll: The individual-mandate penalties are working. Gallup.

Youth enrollments: More evidence that we won't have a 'death spiral.' "In the list of ominous predictions about Obamacare, a main fear has been that only sick people will sign up. This would prompt insurers to raise prices, making healthy people even less likely to enroll (the dreaded death spiral). However, Gallup reported that the newly insured are not more or less sickly than the general population. Furthermore, new enrollees are disproportionately young: those aged 18-29 comprise 30% of the newly insured, compared with 21% of the broader adult population. There is no magic number of young, healthy enrollees that will make Obamacare succeed. But a death spiral seems unlikely." The Economist.

Explainer: Obamacare's special enrollment period could help youth signups. Jason Millman.

Why bondholders love Obamacare. "Regardless of what Americans think about Obamacare, reining in health-care costs is winning the support of investors in U.S. Treasuries. After doubling in the past two decades, medical expenses rose less last year than at any time since Harry S. Truman was president in 1949, helped by Medicare reimbursement cuts. The rollout of President Barack Obama's signature 2010 law will hold down consumer prices for years to come as millions of Americans obtain coverage....Less inflation, which boosts the purchasing power of fixed-rate payments, may help attract buyers to Treasuries as the economy strengthens and the Federal Reserve pares its own bond buying." Daniel Kruger in Bloomberg.

Some Republicans are quietly shifting away from repeal. "The repeal-or-nothing approach is getting trickier now that millions of potential voters have enrolled in health plans and started receiving medical care as a result. That means members of Congress running for reelection in November will have to face real people for whom repeal would likely mean losing coverage. On the other hand, hard-line Obamacare opponents within the GOP's base are ready to pounce on any comment that suggests any goal short of repeal....But away from reality, in the bizarro world where political campaigns exist, Republican candidates are trying to appease those voters dedicated to repeal without alienating more moderate constituents." John Tozzi in Bloomberg Businessweek.