The ACA was intended to reduce the rate of rate increases, not reduce the cost overall. The proper comparison is to what the rates would have been without the ACA.
As usual, actual studies are all over the map on this. The white house said it was successful at that. NBER said it wasn't, but rates didn't double for a long time. We know rates of large increases went down for a few years, but small increases became nearly universal to compensate.
As usual, actual studies are all over the map on this. The white house said it was successful at that. NBER said it wasn't, but rates didn't double for a long time. We know rates of large increases went down for a few years, but small increases became nearly universal to compensate.