The Washington Post, "Second wave of health-insurance disruption affects small businesses": Millions More to Lose Their Health Care Coverage

In case you missed it, a Washington Post article entitled "Second wave of health-insurance disruption affects small businesses" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/second-wave-of-health-insurance-disruption-affects-small-businesses/2014/01/11/dc2f7404-6ffe-11e3-a523-fe73f0ff6b8d_story.html?hpid=z1) by Ariana Eunjung Cha informs us:

"When millions of health-insurance plans were canceled last fall, the Obama administration tried to be reassuring, saying the terminations affected only the small minority of Americans who bought individual policies.

But according to industry analysts, insurers and state regulators, the disruption will be far greater, potentially affecting millions of people who receive insurance through small employers by the end of 2014.

. . . .

Some of the small-business cancellations are occurring because the policies don’t meet the law’s basic coverage requirements. But many are related only indirectly to the law; insurers are trying to move customers to new plans designed to offset the financial and administrative risks associated with the health-care overhaul. As part of that, they are consolidating their plan offerings to maximize profits and streamline how they manage them."

"If you like your health care plan, you can keep it." Yeah, right.

Add to this mess an insufficient number of young persons signing up for Obamacare. As reported by Reuters in an article entitled "Obamacare may get sick if young Americans don't sign up" (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/12/us-usa-healthcare-enrollment-idUSBREA0B07Y20140112) by Lewis Krauskopf:

"Early data from a handful of state exchanges shows the administration needs more young adults to sign up in the next three months to help offset costs from older enrollees and prevent insurers from raising their rates.

Critics of Obama's Affordable Care Act say the market won't attract enough young people to keep it financially viable, putting more pressure on government funds to compensate for any insurer losses.

Data from seven states and the District of Columbia, which are running their own marketplaces, show that of more than 200,000 enrollees, nearly 22 percent are 18 to 34 years old, according to a Reuters analysis.

The administration had hoped that over 38 percent, or 2.7 million, of all enrollees in 2014 would be 18 to 35 years old, based on a Congressional Budget Office estimate that 7 million people would sign up by the end of March."

The problem is that there are not enough selfless youngsters interested in subsidizing grandpa and grandma's medical bills. Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Or in other words, the Perfect Storm is brewing . . .