Nearly 3 in 5 people who purchase individual health plans find it at least somewhat difficult to afford care, according to a new Commonwealth Fund survey.

Put another way, insurance under the Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable.

That's no surprise. Democrats have spent billions subsidizing coverage through the exchanges without doing anything to address the structural reasons why the cost of insurance has surged. Their approach is making insurers rich — at the expense of taxpayers and patients. In 2013, the year before Obamacare went into effect, the average monthly premium in the individual market was $244. By 2019, it was $558.

Next year, the average lowest-cost plan premium on the exchanges will be $479 a month. Democrats know that's not exactly affordable. So they've used taxpayer dollars to mask the true cost of exchange coverage. Federal subsidies for insurance premiums amount to $91 billion this year. More than 9 in 10 exchange enrollees receive subsidies. That amounts to a multibillion-dollar transfer from your wallet to insurance companies. It only adds to the handsome profits insurers have made, and will continue to make, off of Obamacare.

With taxpayers picking up an ever-greater share of premiums, consumers are relatively insensitive to premium hikes. So insurers have little problem raising rates. Indeed, next year's average lowest-cost plan premium on the exchanges is 7% higher than this year. The subsidies may insulate against premium hikes, but they do not alleviate the pain associated with high deductibles and narrow provider networks.

This year, the average enrollee with a mid-level silver plan had to meet a deductible of nearly $4,900 . Less generous bronze plans had an average deductible of nearly $7,500. Historically, roughly three-quarters of exchange plans have confined their beneficiaries to narrow provider networks.

Until lawmakers address Obamacare's flaws, insurers will continue profiting off of the individual market's dysfunction. And patients and taxpayers will continue paying the price.

Sally C. Pipes is President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith fellow in Health Care Policy at the Pacific Research Institute. Her latest book is  False Premise, False Promise: The Disastrous Reality of Medicare for All  (Encounter 2020). Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @sallypipes.