Wall Street Analysts: You WILL Lose Your Current Coverage
An investors note sent by analysts at Credit Suisse yesterday afternoon discussed the McKinsey Quarterly finding that 30% of all employers – and more than half of those well-informed about the health care law – will “definitely or probably” stop offering coverage after 2014. What’s most interesting is the concluding paragraph of Credit Suisse’s analysis:
Exactly What was Intended: Our read of health reform is that this shift would occur. While the figures are staggering, they are simply an economically-rational response by employers to federal health policy to shift the U.S. from an employer-purchased to an individually-purchased insurance market, just like the 401(k) did with pension, but likely at a far more accelerated pace, in our view. What’s truly surprising to us is that McKinsey seemed to be able to get candid responses from employers who are reluctant to signal a shift that could hurt their recruitment process. We’ve commonly heard “we don’t want to be first, but we don’t want to be third either.” We also think that if 30%-50% make the move, others will likely follow. [Emphasis original.]
You may recall that during the health care debate, liberal groups cited notes from Wall Street analysts regarding insurer profits as reason to enact a government-run health plan. Does the Left now agree with Wall Street’s analysis that employers WILL dump their health insurance coverage “at an accelerated pace,” and that such a move – dumping many more individuals in government-run Exchanges, complete with taxpayer-funded insurance subsidies costing trillions more than expected – is “exactly what was intended” by the law…?