US uninsurance rate drops to 13.4%, record low

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When you force people to buy insurance, what the hell do you think is going to happen to the number of people that are uninsured, especially when the penalty is more than the cost of insurance?

Unfortunately that isn't even close to being true, which is why the uninsured rate is still 13.4% rather than the low single digits...

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Maybe they'll mock murder laws for reducing the murder rate next...

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It is newsworthy because a high controversial, much maligned piece of legislation is working despite a large opposition who insisted (to put it very nicely) that it would not.

To put it nicely, a large number of people believed it when legislators had claimed previously that they understood that the fact that Americans spend at least one-sixth of their money on medical care was a problem, and that they would attempt to deal with this bureaucracy and inefficiency.  To put it nicely, a large number of people were quite surprised when a number of legislators claimed never to have read it even as they voted on it.  To put it nicely, no one is surprised at the fact that when someone puts a gun to your head and asks you to buy something, you buy it.  To put it nicely, if that's what you call "working" then yes, I'd have to agree that the PPACA is working very nicely.  Here, buy this or pay a fine.  That all works out very nicely, doesn't it?

Your over-the-top "gun to the head" imagery is totally unnecessary. The "punishment" for not buying health insurance is an extra 1% of income tax, which is much cheaper than health insurance premiums, and the vast majority of people's out-of-pocket health care costs.

No, the ACA is working because most uninsured people wanted health insurance from the beginning and the subsidized Exchanges are making that possible. Most people who were uninsured by choice are still uninsured by choice and just paying the extra 1%.

The next goal is to get those people who are uninsured on purpose to enroll, and that's going to be difficult. We could start by increasing the extra tax to the point where it makes financial sense to enroll, but that's a non-starter idea until Democrats retake the House and increase their Senate margin by 5.

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1% this year.  2% in 2015.  2.5% in 2016.  And that's just what we know so far.

Headline:  "Government says if you don't buy something you get punished for not buying it.  One year later, a bunch of people have bought that thing."

This is news?

Did you even read my post? The "fine"/tax/whatever you want to call it is toothless and meaningless. That shouldn't be the case, but it is

The reason health insurance enrollment is rising is subsidized Exchange insurance, along with expansion of Medicaid, forbidding pre-existing condition discrimination, and allowing up-to-26-year-olds to stay on their parent's insurance. It has very little to do with the Individual Mandate.

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Well, this is what usually happens if a health care reform law with a mandate is implemented ...

Would be shocking if the rate did not fall.

Again, the penalty for not buying insurance is an extra 1% in income taxes, MUCH lower than the typical insurance premium. The Individual Mandate is responsible for virtually none of the drop the uninsured rate -- the people who were intentionally uninsured already aren't going to change their minds now with this low of a penalty.

The reason the uninsured rate dropped is the subsidized Exchanges, the ban of pre-existing condition discrimination, and allowing people to stay on their parent's insurance until they're 26. It has nothing to do with the Individual Mandate.