USA Today reported last week that health insurance premiums had risen an average of 10 percent in the three years before the ObamaCare health care reform law was passed. The cost analysis by the Commonwealth Fund was said to be first national study of health insurance premiums ever completed.

As is usually the case, averages can be deceiving. The study found premium increases ranging from a low of 3 percent in Iowa to a high of 15 percent in Wisconsin in 2008.

The study’s author suggested that the findings should blunt criticism of ObamaCare and the often-heard suggestion that the health care law is causing health insurance premiums to rise. The author also noted pre-Obama Care increases often hit people with pre-existing conditions harder than other people. He also argued that post-Obamacare increases have more value because they cover more benefits, as mandated by the law.

But ObamaCare, officially known as the Affordable Care Act, promised two things — increased coverage and access to health care, and a lowering of health care costs.

Few officials in Washington are talking about the still-rising costs of health care. No politician has explained why the United States spends more than twice as much on health care, on a per-capita basis, as other advanced countries. And no supporter of ObamaCare has explained how the ACA will help to bring health care costs under control.

Last fall, the big story was the botched website for access to the federal health care exchange. The controversy and debate were about the website crashing, while very little if any attention was given to rising costs.

Having named the law The Affordable Care Act, the burden is on supporters to explain how and when it will reduce health care costs.

A story in Forbes magazine reports that health insurance premiums are seeing the biggest increases in years and the analysts suggest recent rate increases can be tied to different elements of ObamaCare, such as underwriting restrictions, prohibitions against higher rates based on age and mandated minimum benefit levels.

Another study found that health insurance premiums have risen faster under ObamaCare than they did in previous years.

ACA supporters might argue that more expensive health insurance now is not as bad because of the increased benefits. Critics of ObamaCare, on the other hand, will argue that the law is causing rapidly rising health care costs. But that debate is politics, instead of the more imporant issue — figuring out why health care costs are rising and what can be done about it.

Despite being named the Affordable Care Act, the health care reform law focused on increasing access and making health insurance affordable through taxpayer-financed subsidies to lower-income people.

While more access to affordable healthcare is a good thing and is making life better for millions of Americans, the constantly increasing cost of health care is also hurting many millions of Americans. The ever-increasing costs of providing health coverage for employees is hurting American businesses, and increasing health care costs are a deterrent to hiring more workers.

Instead of fighting about the role Obamacare has in rising health care costs, political leaders in Washington, particuarly Obamacare supporters, should be telling Americans what they plan to do to change or improve Obamacare to slow the annual increases in health care costs and bring U.S. health care spending in line with that of other advanced countries of the world.

The Affordable Care Act is, at best, doing nothing to lower heath care costs. At worst, it is a major factor in rising health care costs. President Obama and ACA supporters in Congress should tell Americans what they are going to do to change that.