What this all really is is a demonstration of how dumb and schizophrenic the electorate is.
Vitually NO good healthcare plan could have actually been passed. Single payer was out. Even a public option and a federal exchange were too "rich" for the Reagan blood fueling so much of America. So we passed a plan that relies on inefficient, less competitive state-level exchanges, which was inevitably going to lead to higher premiums for some (though it seems to me that insurance companies must at least partially be doing this because, well, they can, not because they have to, as the influx of healthy young folk should offset the addition of people with preexisting conditions), as well as some plans inevitably being terminated due to minimum coverage laws rendering them obsolete. But of course Obama could not openly admit that, for he'd have been crucified by the "government is taking over!" crowd, so he says "you can keep your plan" with the implied caveat that, of course, the insurance company and/or your employer have to continue to offer said plan. All this, combined with an inefficient rollout (that seems at least partially caused by lack of regulation in the health insurance industry making healthcare IT a true nightmare without any kind of set electronic standard), seems to confirm that "government can't do anything right!", when of course it was the electorate that tied the government's hands behind its back and told it to do a cartwheel (and to do it with a smile, goddamn it!).
America's values are just fucked up, on so many things. Abortions are important for the government to control, but the efficient and fair doling out of healthcare is something best left to the private sector that produced Enron employees laughing about wildfires. Jesus, I need to ly dow
Edit: and is it REALLY surprising that a pretty massive shift in our healthcare system might be plagued with problems, at first? That we're complaining something complicated does not work right away makes us look like a nation of petulant toddlers. I'm mad that the web site isn't working, but premiums are rising because we're shifting healthcare costs (like ER visits by uninsured folks) AWAY from the government and putting it back on the private sector.
ALSO, your premiums would have gone up anyway! Granted, some companies are instituting fees for policies covering a partner whose job could offer health insurance, but they don't really have to, do they? I'm not 100% knowledgeable of the law, but that would be kind of a silly requirement, no? That seems more like another example of insurance companies doing something "because they can", rather than because they need to, or should.
