Years ago Pete Seeger penned a song titled "Where have all the flowers gone?". Recorded and made famous by the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary in the 60's, the song, with some lyric modifications might now be re-titled "Where have all the carriers gone?".
Much has been discussed and cussed about Obamacare but very little has been said about the impact on the economy once Obamacare unfolds in 2014 and beyond.
Many carriers will simply withdraw from the market rather than put up with the frustration. The ones that remain will scale back their operations. Support staff, including home office service reps, claims adjudicators and premium accounting staffers will go. Regional offices will close.
Sales reps that promote individual major med and small group insurance plans will be the first to go, starting about a year from now in the summer of 2013. Underwriters will depart in early 2014.
How many thousands of people will lose jobs, how many offices will go dark?
Hard to calculate at this point.
How much will this impact a failing economy?
And what will happen when the carriers finally leave the market entirely? When, not if, because they will eventually withdraw and we will have Medicare for everyone.
States will lose a major tax base as the health insurance business shifts from the private sector to government (taxpayer) funded plans. Premium taxes rank in the top 3 revenue sources for every state. Those lost revenues will have to be made up somewhere else and there will be further reductions in state provided services.
The hits just keep on coming.
How is this working for you?