The Republicans have had a field day with the CBO report on Obamacare, of course as usual it’s mostly fiction.  Even Republican leaning  James Joyner admits as much.  Over at TPM Dylan Scott makes a point I have made before, not being dependent on employer health insurance can be a job creator and encourage innovation. When I was an engineer a Tektronix in the 80s talented people were leaving the company all of the time to start new companies.  While it’s true that many of them failed many did not and are alive and well today.  As health insurance became too expensive or nearly impossible to get for those in their late 40s or 50s this entrepreneurship  all but stopped – people were locked into their jobs because of health insurance.

Three economists released an analysis in 2011 that concluded employment-based health insurance had a negative effect on business creation. Because people tended to stay in their jobs to keep their health coverage, they were less likely to leave them and start their own businesses. By reforming the individual and small-group insurance markets, Obamacare is intended to make the insurance offered there comparable to what large employers offer, giving people a legitimate alternative to employer-based coverage.

They analyzed various scenarios to reach that conclusion: Do people who had access to insurance through their spouse create more businesses? Do people who turn 65 and enroll in Medicare found more companies than people who are a little younger than 65?

In both cases, they found that people without the alternatives — those who couldn’t obtain insurance through their spouse or couldn’t enroll in Medicare — were less likely to start their own business.

I firmly believe that what is wrong with both health insurance and a dearth of new business creation is the result of our system of employer health insurance.  It locks you into your employer and eliminates options.  Obamacare eliminates that lock,  It means you can leave to start a new innovative business or even retire before you are eligible for Medicare.  Yes, these are both good things.  If you start a new business you create jobs.  If you retire early you free up a job for someone else.