ObamaCare premiums jumped 23% this year...after subsidies!

For those who've ventured into Obamacareland, and have thought, 'ok, it's not so bad,' you fell for it. That was the plan all along. It's called bait-and-switch!

IBD: President Obama has talked a lot in recent months about how health care inflation has moderated in recent years, and he always manages to credit ObamaCare for the result.

But there is rampant inflation in one part of the health care system, and ironically enough it involves ObamaCare premiums.

According to official government data, the average premium paid by those signing up through the federal Healthcare.gov site this year was $101 a month, after factoring in the subsidies.

Last year, however, the average premium, net of subsidies, was $82.

That's a 23% increase.

The reason, explains John Graham at the National Center for Policy Analysis, is that -- thanks to the crazy-quilt way ObamaCare calculates the tax credit -- the average subsidy went down slightly this year while premiums increased by 5%.

Next year is likely to bring more premium pain, if the Congressional Budget Office is right. It says insurance costs will climb 8.5% in 2016, in part because various ObamaCare insurance bailout programs start coming to an end.

The subsidies will continue to subside, as the premiums pierce the sky, and so many will eventually wonder why they sold their liberty so short.

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." ~ Benjamin Franklin