Health Insurance rate hikes? Why so surprised?

This is my problem with everyone just blindy supporting healthcare reform and all its faculties:  the law of unintended consequences.  

First of all, lets be clear, yes I support healthcare reform.  Obviously, I support healthcare reform, I spend 90+ hours plus a week on health care reform. 

However; in August I learned that the ACA included federal mandates on what insurance companies had to cover under a minimum insurance policy.  Since some states had already done this (aka Romney Care)  <—- yes, I voted for him but it pissed me off that he pretended that Romney Care was a success when its mandates resulted in the highest state monthly premium payments for individual plans.  <—- and this is specifically do to mandating insurance companies to cover certain things even if those things are maternity for MEN.

If he would have admitted that Romney Care was a failure due to the fact that it resulted in the country’s highest monthly premiums for individual plans — he would have been able to warn us of what everyone is seeing happen right now rate hikes.  If he would have drawn attention to a state with the lowest mandates on coverage and therefore one of the lowest monthly premiums: Idaho: $167 he would have made people realize why the governor of that state tried signing an executive order against ACA:  to save his citizens money.  He knew what the mandates would do to his average: $167 —-> HIKE THEM UP!

As of September 2012:

1. Massachusetts: $437
2. Vermont: $401
3. New Jersey: $364
4. New York: $357
5. Rhode Island: $344
6. Alabama: $136
7. California: $157
8. Arkansas: $163
9. Idaho: $167
10. Delaware: $173

Credit to cakehealth for these numbers.