>>But....there's a larger context here. The promise (stated REPEATEDLY) by Barack Obama that premiums would not go up for anyone, and "if you like your plan, you can keep it". Either had no clue what he was talking about, or was a bold-faced liar. I don't know which is worse.

Even worse would be if the Affordable Care Act allowed insurers to grandfather in policies even if they don't meet the rules... which some insurers saw as an opportunity to cherry-pick profitable policies and dump the rest to the exchanges claiming that Obama made them do it. At least some insurers definitely are dumping policyholders with pre-existing conditions. Fact is that Obama has little control over insurers and you can imagine the SCREAMS if the legislators had sought to give him more control. He can lead a horse to water, but he can't make it drink.

Anyway, seems to me that this is another issue in which the immediate thundering condemnation needs to wait for a few more facts.

Also, latest figures suggest that the top 1% of healthcare users consume a whopping 22% of the total health spend. Would be interested to hear your take on this wrt to insurance companies under Obamacare. Seems likely insurers now will have more impetus to prevent illness so policyholders don't reach this state rather than just dumping them.