The reason for high premiums in Obamacare is simple: There wasn't enough carrier participation.

Economists Leemore Dafny, Jonathan Gruber and Christopher Ody draw that conclusion in a paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research.

For example, had UnitedHealthcare, the country's largest carrier, participated and offered plans through the federal exchange—and more in other exchanges—prices would have been a great deal less. Researchers calculated that if UnitedHealth participated in markets where it already sold individual policies, premiums for silver plans would have been 5.4 percent less.

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Health Care Reform