They work in small businesses or for themselves[1] because they don't have to worry about health insurance. Or they become a teacher[2]. Or they don't have to work at all because they are raising kids or getting a better education - again, because they don't have to worry about health insurance.

Eventually, they would join other parts of the economy in the US, but in the short term, the unemployment rate would spike and the economy in general would suffer.

[1] https://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/small-business-2... [2] https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Education/Se...

> Eventually, they would join other parts of the economy in the US, but in the short term, the unemployment rate would spike and the economy in general would suffer.

And if an administration managed to get this through in the beginning of their first term, they'd never get re-elected, and most of the Congresspeople who supported it would be out as well. The next group voted in would dismantle it and put things back the way they were.

Any plan to dismantle the US private insurance industry will need to ensure a very soft, cushy landing for the people employed in that industry, or it'll never work.

Hopefully something more useful but the point is that nobody wants to be the administration that created 10%+ unemployment overnight and the ensuing ripples.

Instead of employing them to shuffle paper, we could just directly pay them to burn money?