Investors Business Daily explains how Obamacare forces insurance companies to provide coverage for more stuff in their health care plans, and how that raises the cost of health insurance for you.

Excerpt:

In a recent New York Times article, chiropractors and acupuncturists bragged about how they’re getting their services mandated under ObamaCare’s “essential benefits” rule. That part of the law says all insurance — which the government forces everyone to buy — has to cover certain basic benefits and leaves it up to the states to fill in a lot of the blanks.

[…]Other coverage mandates that various states have announced they plan to require under ObamaCare include weight-loss surgery and infertility treatment. These are on top of the federal mandates the Obama administration has already announced, including things like “free” preventive service and contraception coverage.

Since health care dollars don’t fall from trees, each of those mandates will end up adding to the cost of insurance. Worse, these mandates will only grow over time.

[…]Other coverage mandates that various states have announced they plan to require under ObamaCare include weight-loss surgery and infertility treatment. These are on top of the federal mandates the Obama administration has already announced, including things like “free” preventive service and contraception coverage.

[…]States currently impose 2,262 benefit mandates, up from 2,156 the year before, according to the Council for Affordable Health Insurance. There were just 850 mandates in 1992, when CAHI first started tracking them.

Among the more ridiculous are requirements that insurance cover breast implant removal, circumcision, wigs for chemotherapy patients, smoking-cessation service and varicose vein removal.

CAHI figures state mandates add 10% to 50% to the cost of insurance. A report from the Maryland Health Care Commission figures that around 20% of premiums in that state are the result of its 45 benefit mandates.

In addition to preventive-care rules, ObamaCare bans lifetime limits on coverage and puts caps on out-of-pocket costs, each of which will drive up premiums. Its requirement that insurers cover “children” up to 26 years old has already added as much as 3% to premiums, according to Towers Watson.

Along with mandated benefits, ObamaCare declares war on high-deductible health plans proved to hold costs down.

Individual plans won’t be allowed to have a deductible higher than $2,000. This rule will mean that 1-in-7 workers will be forced to take a lower deductible, then pay higher insurance costs as a result.

When insurance companies have to cover more stuff, then premiums increase to be able to pay the claims.

Previously, I blogged about how health insurance premiums had already gone up $3,000 during Obama’s first four years. And now you know why.