One standard argument is that rates were going to go up anyway, because insurance premiums typically go up every year.

The problem with this argument is that Obama repeatedly promised to reduce the premiums of a typical family by $2,500 a year. He didn’t promise, “rates will go up, but they would have been going up anyway.”

Another argument is that the increases are lower than expected. But it’s important to keep in mind that rates for 2015 will be on top of the already elevated rates in 2014. As an example, according to eHealth, a website for purchasing medical coverage, the average rate for premiums in Indiana was $172 in 2013. But by 2015, according the PwC study, the average will be $514 in the state.

An additional defense of Obamacare is that individuals who obtain these plans are going to be getting better coverage than they otherwise would have due to the various protections and required benefits under the law.

But a better system would allow individuals to choose whether they want to purchase more expensive insurance, rather than forcing them to under the threat of penalties.