Sunday, December 8, 2013

Obamacare, civic duty, and warm-fuzzy feelers

Today Ross Douthat questions whether enough eligible people nationwide will opt-in to Obamacare, doing their civic duty and feeling warm and fuzzy in the process.  He references Matt O'Brien in the Atlantic, who cites Martin Feldstein's perspective that the tax penalties may not be high enough to compel the young and healthy to opt-in.

How much compliance will there be?  Here's a fun graphic from USA Today depicting rates of uninsured motorists by state.  Compare that to this graphic from July 2013 showing acceptance of Obamacare's Medicaid expansion. They certainly don't show the same geography of political economy, but there are some echoes and it's a fun juxtaposition.