THE OBAMACARE ROLL OUT'S ECONOMIC IMPACT: “YOU THINK THIS COUNTRY’S IN BAD SHAPE, JUST WAIT ‘TIL I GET THROUGH WITH IT!”

11/6/13

We are incessantly hearing from the “experts” about the impact that the government shutdown has had, and that the sequester will have, on our economy.  Why do we hear so little about the impact the ObamaCare debacle is having, and will have, on the economy?

Millions of Americans who buy their own insurance, of whom yours truly is one, will pay higher, sometimes vastly higher, premiums.   While this is anecdotal, I have talked to no one among my acquaintances who buy their own insurance (and there are many) who will not be paying higher premiums.   Those individual policy purchasers who don’t yet know whether they will face higher premiums are confronted at the very least with uncertainty regarding their premiums, their coverage, and the processes necessary to obtain compliant coverage within the constraints of a health care insurance site no one trusts, and with good reason.   What impact do you suppose a big hike in monthly unavoidable expenses, and uncertainty regarding how much higher those expenses will be, will have on the economy?

Businesses have been given their one year reprieve from having to provide insurance for their employees.  But even when that reprieve was granted, it only prolonged the existing uncertainty businesses faced.   Now all these stories swirling around about the horror show individuals are facing obtaining, and paying for, policies that satisfy the bureaucrats and politicians (who, bear in mind, have never had to buy their own insurance in their lives) can only exacerbate the worst fears of business owners regarding providing prescribed coverage for their employees.   Prolonged, heightened uncertainty on the part of businesses…what do you think that does for hiring plans?

The Affordable Health Care Act is proving to be, at least at this juncture, a bigger defecation show than its most vociferous detractors predicted it would be.  Given the salience, the importance, and the potential political power this issue packs, we have heard plenty about the screwed up, sieve-like ObamaCare website and the higher costs people will have to pay to satisfy the whims of the bureaucrats, the politicians, and their campaign contributors.   But why haven’t we heard much about the economic, or the market, impact of this disaster?

It seems to yours truly that if one wants to talk about roadblocks to sustained recovery, one ought to start with an insurance scheme that will suck purchasing power out of the economy like a vacuum cleaner while discouraging businesses from making long term investment or hiring plans.   All the Fed money printing in the world would have a hard time circumventing the obstacles ObamaCare has placed in the way of sustained recovery. 

What impact will this have on the markets?  As loyal readers know, I am not one to call markets; they seem to do what they want to do.   The ObamaCare travails have so far done nothing to abate the “Where else will we go?” mentality that keeps the stock markets rocketing upward.  But if the markets ever revert to the fundamentals, one has to think that this atrociously miserably executed roll out of a poorly thought out plan designed by people who appear to be hapless and clueless does not bode well for continuation of this Potemkin rally.