President Barack Obama is beginning today what appears to be a full court press to try to get people to sign up for the ACA, a key to its success. MDN editorial board cites IPI's Merrill Matthews, who points out: "One of Obama’s primary justifications for demanding health care reform was to help the uninsurables get coverage, and he has closed that provision to new entrants.”

Several factors in Obamacare are causing health insurance premium rates to rise, notably community rating.

Research conducted by IPI's Merrill Matthews and Mark E. Litow shows Oklahoma premiums in the individual market could increase between 65 percent and 100 percent due to Obamacare's mandates.

Even though President Obama promised that premiums for a family would be lower after his first term in office, prices are actually now $3,000 higher.

Health insurance premiums could soar in Georgia as more provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act come into effect this year. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, actuary Mark E. Litow and IPI's Merrill Matthews predict that rates could climb 65 percent to 100 percent in states such as Georgia and Tennessee.

IPI's Merrill Matthews and actuary Mark Litow, in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, titled, "ObamaCare's Health-Insurance Sticker Shock," predict that Americans' healthcare insurance premiums will spike this year due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

As a consequence of some Obamacare requirements — such as the requirement that health insurers accept everyone who applies, never charge more based on serious medical conditions (modified community rating), and/or start paying for many often-uncovered medical conditions — health-insurance premiums have been going up. But not everyone is equally affected by the increase in premiums.

NPR health policy correspondent Julie Rovner cites IPI's Dr. Merrill Matthews on why Medicaid needs a complete overhaul. "Although it's better than not having any insurance, it is bad insurance. And I argue that health care coverage for the poor shouldn't necessarily be poor coverage."

IPI's Merrill Matthews tells Washington Times reporter Ralph Hallow how Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal appeals to voters wanting to repeal ObamaCare, as well as those voters from tea party and evangelical groups.

In reaction to Gov. Rick Perry's declaration Monday that Texas should decline to expand Medicaid and leave creation of a health insurance exchange to the federal government, Dr. Merrill Matthews is quoted by Dallas Morning News reporter Robert Garrett that if enough states push back, maybe they can get the flexibility to try and actually fix the broken Medicaid system.