Entrepreneurship takes a big jump at age 65. Guess Why? [View all]

Health Coverage a ‘Gift' to Ourselves
http://www.nationofchange.org/health-coverage-gift-ourselves-1353429748

One of the more curious “gifts” in Mitt Romney's list of ways Barack Obama allegedly bought off voters was letting young people up to the age of 26 stay on their parents' health plan. It was a gift, all right, a gift to America.

How so? Consider this finding in a RAND study on whether employer-based health insurance is a barrier to entrepreneurship: The rate of new business formations jumps at or around age 65 (particularly in the month that the person turns 65). What happens at age 65 is that Americans qualify for Medicare.

The authors of the study (Robert W. Fairlie, Kanika Kapur and Susan M. Gates) found the spike in business starts by those around 65 to be the purest evidence of "entrepreneurship lock" — the notion that many would-be entrepreneurs stay stuck in jobs for fear of losing health coverage.

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67 replies	Author	Time	Post
Entrepreneurship takes a big jump at age 65. Guess Why? [View all]	eridani	Nov 2012	OP
Health care coverage is why hubby & I can't retire sooner	peacebird	Nov 2012	#1
Same here. My spouse and kid depend on my coverage too. nt	SunSeeker	Nov 2012	#52
Same here. n/t	femmocrat	Nov 2012	#59
Ditto. (I'm taking it back from limpdick)	AAO	Nov 2012	#67
Too easy! Employer-based health care is dragging our country to the bottom.	Scuba	Nov 2012	#2
Well said	salinen	Nov 2012	#18
+1 nt	femrap	Nov 2012	#30
So true!!!!! nt	Tumbulu	Nov 2012	#44
Yep! n/t	loudsue	Nov 2012	#48
US Healthcare system is a joke to the rest of the world. nt	RiverSong	Nov 2012	#49
I'm glad there's a study on this	caraher	Nov 2012	#3
Of course it does!	annabanana	Nov 2012	#4
This should be so mind-numbingly obvious that even Republicans can't deny it.	trotsky	Nov 2012	#5
If Republicans can deny Evolution and Global Warming, they can deny this.	JustABozoOnThisBus	Nov 2012	#7
mind-numbed	salinen	Nov 2012	#19
so true !!! (nt)	Tumbulu	Nov 2012	#45
I actually started my business (very part-time) at 53	quaker bill	Nov 2012	#6
That's quite interesting. That's a lot of my motivator now.	aletier_v	Nov 2012	#8
If it were not for my military health care	fasttense	Nov 2012	#10
That is me. I'm 58. I'm in essence a serf....tied to my job for ins. coverage.	Honeycombe8	Nov 2012	#9
At 58, a Better Job is Highly Unlikely	PrMaine	Nov 2012	#14
Thanks for the advice. Yes, I'm hanging in there. That's why it's so important...	Honeycombe8	Nov 2012	#16
Getting Insurance	PrMaine	Nov 2012	#24
True	rational_pi	Nov 2012	#11
I think that's a tad oversimplistic.	shawn703	Nov 2012	#12
True--SocSec is also a helpful backup	eridani	Nov 2012	#13
People aren't eligible for Social Security until 66 now.	jeff47	Nov 2012	#17
No, they're eligible at 62	DavidDvorkin	Nov 2012	#29
Yes, as I said in my post about retiring early.	jeff47	Nov 2012	#33
That's not fraud. You don't have to be retired to start taking SS.	DavidDvorkin	Nov 2012	#36
Only if they aren't very successful.	jeff47	Nov 2012	#37
Sure, and I was subject to that for a while	DavidDvorkin	Nov 2012	#38
I suspect that the majority would rather delay taking SS and get more for the rest of their life. nt	jeff47	Nov 2012	#39
Ideally	DavidDvorkin	Nov 2012	#40
Considering that most small businesses take a while to turn a profit	mythology	Nov 2012	#55
OK, I read that, but have no idea wtf it means.	femmocrat	Nov 2012	#60
Depends on when you were born. I'm of the slice that already had our age raised to 67. n/t	Egalitarian Thug	Nov 2012	#65
Correct. Obviously it's because of retirement age...	JackRiddler	Nov 2012	#57
Also you will note from the story that "entrepreneurship" begins to rise at 55,	Egalitarian Thug	Nov 2012	#64
It's also when they have to deal with	Turbineguy	Nov 2012	#15
I've been saying this for years. The #1 barrier to entrepreneurship is lack of health insurance.	yardwork	Nov 2012	#20
I have also been saying it for years	Tumbulu	Nov 2012	#46
I don't understand why it isn't obvious to everybody, too. A huge number of people don't get it.	yardwork	Nov 2012	#54
Like I said to a coworker, just imagine a nation where people have free health care, then imagine	Javaman	Nov 2012	#21
Of course. Been saying this for years. Nobody with a job	closeupready	Nov 2012	#22
Health insurance is one reason, for sure.	MineralMan	Nov 2012	#23
A third reason is that by 65ish, people have acquired the skills to strike out on their own	Kber	Nov 2012	#25
al gore tried to tell people that.	mopinko	Nov 2012	#26
exactly!	shireen	Nov 2012	#27
If I could be assured of health care for me and my family...	mwooldri	Nov 2012	#28
I started my own health and nutrition distributorship in August AND I LOVE IT	Samantha	Nov 2012	#31
Corporate America does not want "Entrepreneurship"	ThoughtCriminal	Nov 2012	#32
Exactly correct	Duer 157099	Nov 2012	#34
You win the thread.	ElboRuum	Nov 2012	#62
"... We were concerned about other confounding factors that might lead to shifts in	jtuck004	Nov 2012	#35
Americans also retire then	jmowreader	Nov 2012	#41
I am working on a startup by myself at the moment	johnd83	Nov 2012	#42
I've long said that tying health insurance to a company undermines entrepreneurship	RainDog	Nov 2012	#43
There is going to be an entrepreneurship boom in 2014	Politicub	Nov 2012	#47
Duh! My story completely	radhika	Nov 2012	#50
i`m thinking about going back into the reupholstering business	madrchsod	Nov 2012	#51
How to MASSIVELY increase entrepreneuship in ALL age groups: Universal Medicare for All !	Faryn Balyncd	Nov 2012	#53
Well yeah, even Republicans know that.	JoeyT	Nov 2012	#56
It's so sad to see America falling behind on the health care front.	limpyhobbler	Nov 2012	#58
We've been steadily losing ground for 30+ years. Our powerful propaganda machine has	Egalitarian Thug	Nov 2012	#66
Doesn't shock me in the slightest.	ElboRuum	Nov 2012	#61
Same here but I have 20 years to go	left lowrider	Nov 2012	#63