Artful Dodger: Yes, the money has to come from somewhere, and lots of people are unwilling to pay for anything. Even the true cost of the wars started under the Bush administration was simply omitted from the budget, while taxes were cut for the richest Americans. Craziness.

Insurance rates have been rising well above the rate of inflation well before Obama took office. I work in HR and it's a pain in the ass to try to bring decent plans to our employees while trying not to raise their premiums too much, and not bankrupt the company with the extra burden. It's near impossible. What's good now is that people are able to get (and keep) coverage who in the past could not.