An ObamaCare October surprise?

In Louisiana, Rep. Bill Cassidy called the double-digit increases for some insurers — including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana — “another hurdle for families and businesses already struggling under the demands of Obamacare” and blamed Democrats for “false promises” that premiums would go down. In Iowa, Senate candidate Joni Ernst used the sharp rate increases for two insurers to blast the Democratic candidate, Rep. Bruce Braley, for supporting the law, charging that “thousands of Iowans are paying for it.”

The attacks could easily give the impression that the health care law is causing premiums to go through the roof around the country. They’re not. In reality, in most states, premiums for coverage in the Obamacare health insurance exchanges for 2015 are rising at about the normal rate for health insurance throughout the country. In some places, they’re even going down…

“In general, the premium increases have been pretty modest. But there are exceptions, and the exceptions happen to be in states with competitive races,” said Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation, who has studied the premium trends around the country.