More good news continues to come Louisiana’s way as policies to improve verification of eligibility for taxpayer subsidies for Obamacare take hold, aided now by the expiration of bonus dollars for it.

Disguised as a Wuhan coronavirus pandemic palliative but, in reality, serving as a mechanism to encourage more dependency on government and to acquire a greater taste for getting free stuff from government, until the start of this year the federal government subsidized, on average, almost 90 percent of the premiums paid for health insurance purchased through a state or federal government market, known of course as Obamacare. Cooler heads prevailed and removed the extra gift, so now the typical exchange user pays closer to 30 percent.

This is partly responsible for a decline in exchange enrollment, although the stepped-up verification also contributes, as it catches disingenuous or inattentive people and prevents them from qualifying for subsidies, which have income-based means tests. This group comprises roughly a quarter of enrollees, estimated at around 6 million people. Louisiana so far has seen enrollment numbers drop by more than a quarter and also has experienced fewer annual enrollees maintaining coverage since signing up at the start of the year. Both the decline in aggregate enrollees and the enrollment drop-off rank among the highest among the states.

Understand that only a minority of individuals dropping out, in fact, are of sufficiently low income that they forgo insurance. Because of the tiered subsidy system, they lose proportionately fewer subsidy dollars, so the average absolute amounts are skewed upward by the relatively larger subsidies provided to higher-income clients.

Aside from the other minority who were improperly enrolled, this higher-income cohort constitutes the remainder. Its members either decided that the additional $122 a month needed, on average for that income level, made insurance cost-ineffective compared with other uses for the money, likely because they enjoy excellent health, or found that plans in the private market now offered better pricing, likely the case for the majority. For most, disenrollment resulting from the end of subsidization means either that they continue to have insurance elsewhere or that they should not have qualified in the first place.

This benefits Louisiana in that, in a state where insurance in all forms generally comes in higher than in most other states, the more subsidization that occurs, the greater pressure accrues to push pricing artificially higher as the system is gamed by sellers and, less directly, by providers. These dollars can be spent on more economically productive activities if left in the hands of consumers, whether through lower premiums, lower taxes, or less government debt for them to back.

So, with its higher rates of program exit, Louisianans benefit more than residents of most other states from this. It’s a good thing for ratepayers and especially for those who pay state taxes.