craig, I may be wrong on this but I think the number of gov't employees (not counting military) has retained about the same proportion of the total US population for a long time and probably won't change significantly.
I also suspect that there won't be a "burden of higher overhead" but rather a lowering of cost - if everyone is insured then the risk is distributed and individual premiums go down - this is why I had long hoped for a single-payer method. That's the ideal thing to promote small business - even Mom & Pop stores could afford to hire someone if they were all covered by some basic insurance. I know anecdotes cut both ways but a young guy around here has a thriving lawn-mowing/gardening business. He works dawn to dusk and is a very decent guy. He's killing himself because he cannot afford to hire full-time help. The labor market has gotten very tight and he's competing with other employers and he just can't manage to pay the salary and offer insurance.
Ryan made a very important point - when Obamacare cuts in he can afford to go "independent contractor" route. Many people will be able to do that, not necessarily to rip off the system but to do work they like better, to learn new skills and maybe spend time raising their kids. Some will have the goal of keeping their AGI way down; most people will still want to increase their incomes. Only rarely do people turn down the opportunity to earn more money.
I think the word "entitlement" carries different baggage for different folks. I don't think of being able to buy health insurance as an entitlement but I suppose others might. The two big beneficiaries of this cumbersome Obamacare are the private insurance companies and the public. I'm not sure where your "no-bid" comes in here - what will be no-bid?
Sorry- I rambled.
Gnomon, we have single payer in Canada. It is a disaster. Single payer (government only) means inefficient, bureaucratic bloat. No getting around it.
Yes, I know, it doesn't HAVE to be that way. But human nature being what it is, government being what it is and bureaucracies being what they are, costs will spiral out of control so fast your head will spin.
