Well, this was fun. Fairly brief answer so it is hard to tell much other than that they do expect rates to come down. So far most of the ACA has not been implemented so time will tell. The Republicans keep saying it has raised costs but so little of it has really been implemented, and what has couldn't have possibly raised costs yet.

What I do know is that rates have gone through the roof. This year I got a 27% increase and am now paying almost $2000 a month. That is with a $10,000 deductible, and only six years ago we were paying $650 a month. It's worse than gasoline prices and if this keeps up our whole health care system is going to collapse.

I am going to write a blog about this this weekend, I usually stick to local but this is important.

Thanks, Michael. Looking forward to your next blog post.

Thanks, Michael, for taking the time to submit a question. I love the fact the Obama Administration reached out and wanted to hear from Patch readers!

Qbama care is nothing but more bigger government. Michael states his premium is definitely on the rise. Everyone I talk to who pays his or her premium out of their own pocket echos the thoughts of Michael. The White House continues to spit out messages that the white house thinks will purswade that the government

Wow, double speak at its best. They're claiming rates are going up less than they would have without the ACA (offering no proof other than a dubious anecdote) and have the nerve to say rates are going down. Yeah, I get the "logic" of the claim - rates while higher than they were, are lower than they would have been - but this is an absurd and unsupported conjecture that treats the average citizen as an idiot. It's even more insulting given rates are rising far greater than the rate of inflation.

The problem is a lack of a free market system and with a lack of competition companies don't have to compete on price meaning they are free to raise prices as long as people pay them.

The answer to the problem was to have a voluntary national insurance program that tore down state barriers to entry and where insurers could compete across state lines. Right now with 50+ regulators limiting patient choice to state-approved plans, competition is severely stunted. Obamacare did nothing to relieve that and is in fact making it worse. Moreover, by eliminating the need for 50+ operating subsidiaries, regulatory infrastructures and pricing controls, costs to run and administer such plans would drop. Add in real competition and pricing would drop too.

Hi Scott, Jack and Dan: Michael is getting much deeper into this issue with his latest blog post at http://patch.com/B-8nw. Please feel free to join the discussion.

Since insurance rates have been on an upward trajectory for some time (guess they need to make their 30% profit ...for doing....what? ) Far better would be the single payer (like Medicare for all) that works really great for patients and is far cheaper to administer (3% vs the 30% overhead of ins. co) If only the Republicans in congress would authorize some sort of adequate pay for providers. But then their goal is to destroy Medicare and Social Security cause they seem oblivious to the fact that the healthier and more educated people are the better our nation does. But then ...they don't work for the nation...they work for the billionaire corporations!

Single payer means the government runs it. The government is never more efficient than the private sector precisely because there's no competition or profit motives. Single payer means rationed care. Single payer means the government decides what's in your best interest with no recourse. Single payer means loss of freedoms. Single payer has never worked well in any country that has tried it. People who say it's working in the UK or Canada are lying. Both have long waits and rationed care. Single payer is the worst answer.

Spewing naive talking points that bear no relation to reality about those with different solutions is not a solution either.

More competition, more choice and more disclosure is the answer.

"Spewing naive talking points that bear no relation to reality..." Thanks for the self-analysis, Scott!

Yes, and thank you for the elegant and well reasoned debate points. You do yourself justice.

Meanwhile, a reasoned discussion on the issue itself is taking place over here: http://napa.patch.com/blog_posts/health-care-crisis-grows-more-critical. There are two dozen comments so far.