Obamacare on the ballot

Discussions about price increases resonate with voters who are struggling with increasing out-of-pocket health care costs, regardless of where their insurance comes from.

A Commonwealth Fund research foundation study released this week shows that families across the country are spending more of their paychecks on health care, and their incomes aren't keeping up with the rise in premiums and deductibles.

People tend to blame Obamacare for these trends even though they preceded the law, says IHPI member Richard Hirth, research director at the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design at the University of Michigan.

"The shifting of costs back to the consumer is really pretty visible," he says. "People are going to see that as a result of the Affordable Care Act because they see the law as representing health care in the United States."