Metrics? We don’t need no stinkin’ metrics: As noted by Townhall‘s Guy Benson, WaPo‘s self-styled “wonks” have cycled through a cascade of declining expectations.
Wonkblog, 10/25 –“The White House figured that if they got 7 million people to sign up for the exchanges in the first year, about 2.7 million needed to be young.”
Wonkblog, 11/26– The total numbers don’t matter. 7 million, 4 million, whatever. It’s the mix of young vs. old that’s “crucial.”
Wonkblog, 12/17–The mix don’t matter either! What’s an extra 2.5% premium increase in 2015 among friends? …
Wonkblog 12/29–Two dozen people and a dog. All we need is two dozen people and a dog.
P.S.: Maybe an extra 2.5% premium increase in one year isn’t all that much, but isn’t that how spirals start? An extra 2.5% is not going to encourage young, healthy people to sign up–and then in 2016, when they don’t, what’s the effect on rates (and on whether insurance companies drop out)? … Plus, as noted by Wonkblog‘s commenters, it’s not just the ratio of young to old that determines rates, but the ratio of sick to healthy within each category. … At some point, don’t you want the spiral to start spiraling in the right direction?
Also, at some point do we get to ask what we got for a half trillion dollars?