Insurance premium costs a real issue

Just imagine the public outcry that would occur if property taxes increased 46 percent in DuPage County. A $5,000 bill would increase to $7,300, a $7,500 bill would increase to $10,950, a $10,000 bill would increase to $14,600 and so on.

This level of tax increase would be in the headlines of all the newspapers. The phone lines to our elected officials would be jammed with calls from concerned citizens. There would be stories of businesses that would close down because the tax increase would make operations unsustainable. Homeowners would no longer be able to stay in their homes.

For tens of thousands of us it is being reported that our bill will increase 46 percent next year not our property tax bill but our health insurance premiums. For my family our $18,000 insurance premium will increase to $26,000 in just one year! This is almost double, what we paid prior to the government getting involved in making our insurance affordable.

The financial impact the Affordable Care Act will have on families next year is the most underreported story out there. I guess we will have to wait until after the elections for the news coverage to change from negative campaign smears between candidates to actual reporting the news that impacts our real lives.

Dan VanDerMolen

Elmhurst