And so it begins . . . the exodus from employer-provided health insurance

I’m guessing that my readers also take a look at the Drudge Report links, so that this is no suprise, but here it is, anyway: CNBC reports that small employers with comparatively lower-income employees are discovering that they can get a better deal for themselves and their employees by dropping health insurance, sending the employees to the exchanges, and sharing the money saved with their employees as an increase in their paychecks.

A win-win scenario, eh? But, of course, not a win-win-win, because the taxpayer pays the cost of the subsidies instead — and all projections of the cost of the Obamacare subsidies are based on the assumption that employers continue to offer insurance at the same frequency as they currently do.

And what’s true for small employers may be equally true for large employers — though there are differences: insurance is usually pricier for the smaller employers, so their savings is greater, large employers will face the $2,000 per person penalty, and at most large employers, skilled workers (that is, excluding retail/food service/etc.) expect health insurance as a standard part of the benefits package.