Health Care insurance - costs of health insurance differ by state depending on what each state's insurance commissioner will approve. Two of the biggest factors driving up the cost of a policy are Guaranteed Issue and Community Rating. The first says an insurer may not decline to cover someone due to pre-existing conditions; why is that costly? It means someone can wait to purchase coverage when they're sick; like buying flood insurance after the flood. Today only 5 states require Guaranteed Issue. The second says an insurer cannot differentiate premiums based on risk; why is that costly? It discourages healthy (usually younger) people from purchasing insurance to spread the risk; there also is no financial incentive to follow healthy habits (read here - smoking, obesity, high risk professions, etc).
There are 35 states today which don't require Community Rating.

The 3 states that require both (Guaranteed Issue and Community Rating) have premiums 2-3 times (yes, TIMES) the national average cost.

Guess what Congress and the President are considering. Yup, BOTH. Where are the facts when Congress needs to see them?

Congress can craft a way to assist the roughly 5 million or so who cannot afford insurance today (the other 40 million either have incomes > $50,000 and choose not to purchase or qualify for Medicaid and haven't applied according to various reports I've read) without incorporating the two factors which drive costs upwards.

A simple first step is for Congress merely to permit purchase of health insurance across state lines. Let consumers shop for the coverage they want and can afford.