CBO report — tempest in a teapot. Real unemployment in the US is probably 10-15%. If some people get out of the labor force or go part-time, there will be others more than willing and able to take their places.

Secondly, you don’t need to get a subsidy to benefit from the exchanges. Being able to buy individual insurance at what are essentially group rates is a benefit in itself. I’d suspect that some of the “dropouts” will go on to start small businesses, which they weren’t previously able to, since they were priced out of the individual market due to pre-existing conditions or whatever. Better for them than being tied to a job that they hate by the insurance system, and going to work every day wanting to kick their boss’s teeth in.

Lastly, if this leads to more couples working less than two full-time jobs between them, it will probably be good for the kids and reduce marital stress. Yeah, I’m a liberal who’s a big believer in the one to 1.5-job family.