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Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has already admitted that the "affordable" in the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" is something of a misnomer, to say the least, and with all of the hidden costs and complexities the law's implementation is slowly but surely revealing, Democrats have every reason to be nervous. As Josh Kraushaar put it at NJ: While the debate over ObamaÂ’s health care law isnÂ’t a life-or-death battle, health care affects voter livelihood (and their voting decisions) like few other issues do. And there are clear signs that if premiums go up, businesses are forced...

Within months of Democrats ramming through Obamacare without a single Republican vote, the American people responded, pummeling the president's party at the polls. Republicans gained 63 seats in the House, six United States Senators, six governorships, and nearly 700 seats in state legislatures nationwide. Conservatives had their temporary political revenge, we were told, but Democrats would get the last laugh because Obamacare was sure to become more popular once Republicans' scurrilous smears against the law were shown to be false. How's that working out? Democratic senators, at a caucus meeting with White House officials, expressed concerns on Thursday about how...

There is an increasing trend toward higher health insurance rates for those who are overweight and live “unhealthy” lifestyles as defined by insurance companies and employers. As the thinking goes, the obese and others (usually smokers) are automatically viewed as chronically unhealthy and above average consumers of healthcare services. Whether this is true for a particular person or not has become irrelevant. More premium money has to be collected from somewhere and neither the cowardly insurance companies nor our feckless politically correct corporate leaders will demand higher premiums from homosexuals whose risky lifestyle is well established as a cause of...

When I first read it, I thought this New York Times report from late last night was just late to the party. The Society of Actuaries had already released its analysis of the damage that ObamaCare will do to health-insurance costs, and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had already admitted that prices would go up as government forced people to buy bigger comprehensive policies. CNN even went so far as to ask whether Barack Obama and his administration had “misled” voters over the costs of ObamaCare.This study, though, is actually separate from the SoA’s analysis. The state of California commissioned this...

Remember way back to the 2008 Presidential campaign? Then Senator Obama made a promise, one he repeated over and over for the next few years. Here's a refresher of what he said: "If you’ve got insurance through your employer, you can keep your insurance. We estimate we can cut the average family’s premium by about $2,500 per year. If you don’t have health insurance, then we’re going to provide you the option of buying into the same kind of federal pool that both Sen. McCain and I enjoy as federal employees. We’re going to make sure insurance companies can’t discriminate...

Insurance: News this week that ObamaCare will cause a huge spike in insurance claims in the individual market — and result in sky-high premium hikes — was bad enough. Worse still was the administration's response. A study released Tuesday by the Society of Actuaries said that health claims will shoot up an average 32% under ObamaCare. Some states will see claims rise as much as 80%, while just five states could see them drop a little. [snip] So what is the administration's response? A big yawn.

An exhaustive study by three congressional committees delivers startling news about the dire effects of Obamacare: President Barack Obama’s signature legislation could increase health insurance premiums by over 200 percent and render insurance coverage unaffordable for millions of Americans. Broadly, the new report declares that Obamacare “breaks its core promise” to make healthcare coverage affordable. The report, “The Price of Obamacare’s Broken Promises,” was prepared by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Majority Staff; Senate Committee on Finance, Minority Staff; and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Minority Staff. “Studies and analyses from the Congressional Budget Office,...

In response to Donna Brazile: Why did my health care premiums go up? : I understand her disappointment considering the president made some rather incredible predictions when he was campaigning for "what critics call" Obamacare :

For years, ObamaCare critics focused on its least popular feature — the mandate that everyone buy insurance — taking their fight all the way to the Supreme Court. But as ObamaCare's official launch date approaches, even its backers are beginning to admit that the law could actually create powerful incentives for millions of people and thousands of businesses to drop their coverage, despite the mandate. There is growing concern, for example, that the law's market reforms will cause a huge "rate shock," particularly for those young and healthy.

President Obama will deliver a second inaugural address later this month. He’ll no doubt reflect on what he’s done during his first four years in office — and on his signature healthcare law in particular. Let’s reflect with him. During his first campaign for the presidency in 2008, the president promised that his health reform plan would “bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family” by the end of his first term. Well, that first term is just about up. And health insurance isn’t any cheaper. In fact, it’s more expensive. Premiums have increased by an average of $3,065....

What a pity.  If only someone had demonstrated the foresight to warn against the destructive consequences of Obamacare's medical device tax, they might have helped turn public sentiment sharply against the law prior to passage.  Oh, that's right, conservatives did -- and the American people rose up in opposition.  Now, the very actors who are most responsible for ignoring public demands and jamming through Obamacare are trying to "delay" or repeal a major element of their law, warning that it could stifle medical innovation and kill jobs.  Welcome to the party, guys.  You're about two years too late:   U.S....

As local employees sign up for their 2013 benefits, many are learning that they’ll lose a bigger chunk of their paychecks to health-care costs. For the first time, central Ohio employers will deduct, on average, more than $2,000 from their workers’ paychecks next year to help pay ever-pricier health-care premiums, according to a recent survey by benefits consultant Aon Hewitt. The survey included 113 employers in the Columbus area that represent 79,000 employees. Cost-shifting is just one way that employers have long tried to handle higher health-care costs. Local health-benefit experts say they’re seeing several other strategies emerge, too. For...

With the Presidential election one week away, it’s worth reviewing how Obamacare will impact the residents of key swing states. In Ohio, as elsewhere, Obamacare will drive up the cost of private health coverage, especially for those who buy insurance on their own. A non-partisan study found that, by 2017, individual premiums in Ohio will increase by as much as 85 percent. In addition, Obamacare will deeply cut Medicare Advantage for more than 700,000 Ohio seniors enrolled in the program. And more than 30 percent of Ohio physicians say that they will place new or additional limits on accepting Medicare...

During his first run for president, Barack Obama made one very specific promise to voters: He would cut health insurance premiums for families by $2,500, and do so in his first term. But it turns out that family premiums have increased by more than $3,000 since Obama's vow, according to the latest annual Kaiser Family Foundation employee health benefits survey. [snip] And ObamaCare will continue to fuel health premium inflation.

U.S. health insurance premiums have climbed faster than wages and inflation this year, and look poised to accelerate in 2013, adding to voter concerns about soaring healthcare costs ahead of November elections for the White House and Congress. A study released on Tuesday showed that premiums for employer-sponsored health plans, which cover about 149 million Americans, grew a modest 4 percent to $15,745 in 2012. It was a substantially slower rate of growth than in past years, including 2011, when premiums jumped 9 percent. But the study's authors at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational...

RALEIGH, N.C. — The University of North Carolina system requires all students to have health insurance coverage, but the cost of a plan the system offers has more than doubled in two years. The insurance requirement started in 2010, and about one-third of students on the system's 16 university campuses buy their policy through UNC's provider, New York-based insurer Chartis. The rest of the students have other coverage, usually through their parents. The average cost of the Chartis policy started at $695 a year, but it rose to $847 last year. Tuition bills that are now arriving in student mailboxes...

Fox News - Under the law, the benefits package must include such fundamentals as inpatient and outpatient care, emergency services, maternity and childhood care, prescription drugs, preventive screenings and labs. It must cover mental health and substance abuse treatment, as well as rehabilitation for physical and cognitive disorders. Such add-ons are often not fully covered by frugal plans that are now the best that many small businesses can afford. Oh, you're gonna pay. But what? $500 a month per person? $750? $1000? I've looked everywhere and can't find any prices attached to Hussein's grand scheme. Sure it was a huge...

Spotlight back on healthcare lawBy Julian Pecquet and Sam Baker - 09/27/11 09:00 PM ET Health insurance premiums surged 9 percent in 2011, according to a report released Tuesday that raised new doubts about President Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment. Republicans seized on the annual Kaiser Family Foundation survey, arguing it flew in the face of Obama’s campaign promise that healthcare reform would lead to lower insurance costs. Instead, the Senate Republican Policy Committee calculated, average family premiums have increased by $2,213 so far under the administration. The report was released a day after the Department of Justice decided against asking...

White House plays defense after report finds healthcare premiums on the riseBy Julian Pecquet - 09/27/11 11:33 AM ET The Obama administration quickly responded Tuesday to bad news about rising insurance premiums with a strong defense of the healthcare law and its benefits for consumers. An annual survey of premiums found that the premiums for employer-provided family plans increased by 9 percent — to $15,073 — in 2011, leaving Democrats vulnerable to charges that the law isn't working. The administration proactively responded with a post on the White House blog that went up as soon as the embargo on the...

So, Ohio, how do you like President Obama now that you have had 2 1/2 years of him in the Oval Office? The Buckeye State turned blue for him in 2008, as the majority of voters bought into his mantras of hope and change and yes we can. The centerpiece of his domestic policy is Obamacare and now a new study shows that 790,000 Ohioans will lose their private health insurance and premiums will rise 55%-85% when Obamacare takes full effect in 2014.