Stories Causing Atlas to Shrug, March 26, 2015 | Death Spiral Indicators, Employment Anchor & Keeping the Plan You Like

Death Spiral: 

• Obamacare enrollees are 2.5 times more likely to have HIV or Hepatitis C than the commercially insured population.  

• On average, those enrolled in Obamacare plans are 18.5% older than those enrolled in the general commercial population.   

• On average, 43% of eligible people in the federally-established exchanges have picked health plans, compared with 38% in the state-run marketplaces - but sound actuarial principle demands that 75% of any population must sign up for health insurance for a pool to remain economically viable.  

Employment Anchor: 

• 23% of employers have self-reported that their organizations have already reduced employee work-hours or plan to do so, as a result of PPACA's employer mandate. 

Promises Kept: 

• 22% of you who like your plans can keep them as 22% of plans remain grandfathered.  

• Because many health plans will be taxed under Obamacare in 2018's excise "Cadillac" tax, 9% of employer plans have already been cheapened and advisers are coaching employers to "reduce plan benefits and increase deductibles".