I don’t like editorials on either side that excessively spin issues.
In this case, although it is true that the cost of the lowest-cost lowball policy will rise substantially, this isn’t the sort of policy most people are shopping for now or were in the past.
The “new” lowest cost policies will include prescription coverage (along with some other ‘benefits’ we’d rather not have such as abortion), more moderate deductibles compared to a catastrophic-coverage policy, and are generally closer to the sort of policy most people tried to find all along.
In my own case I have priced policies before and after (Washington State’s Insurance Commissioner just released projected exchange rates). As best as I can tell quotes for my own coverage are up about 15%, but now include Rx coverage, so there really isn’t a lot of change in terms of the premium.
Well, so much for that. Looks like they are moving us to Medicaid. So my death panel will be free now rather than +15%.