Maryland, Virginia and Connecticut are the first three states to make their 2018 Obamacare premium estimates public and they paint a very bad picture for the future of Obama's crowning legislative achievement. On average, premiums for individual insurance are expected to increase 33% over 2017 with Maryland's 4 insurers requesting a staggering 45% YoY increase. Per Bloomberg:

Of course, 2018 premium hikes are only half the story because they come on top of staggering increases in 2017 as well. Combined, residents of Connecticut, Maryland and Virginia are looking at total premium increases of 59%, 81% and 41%, respectively, over just a two-year period. As a reminder, here is where rate increases came in, by state, for the 2017 plan year:

Of course, the panicked mainstream media is eagerly trying to pin the 2018 premium increases on the Trump administration rather than simply admitting that Obamacare was doomed from the start. For 'Exhibit A' just look at this spin from Bloomberg:

Health insurers are asking for sharp increases in the cost of their Obamacare plans next year, thanks to instability in the law’s coverage markets that’s been compounded by the Trump administration. The increases can be blamed in part on uncertainty among insurers about the strength of the law’s requirement that people carry insurance. The Trump administration has raised doubts about whether it will enforce what is considered by some insurers to be an already insufficient penalty. "Failure to enforce the individual mandate makes it far more likely that healthier, younger individuals will drop coverage and drive up the cost for everyone,” Chet Burrell, Chief Executive Officer of CareFirst, said in a statement. The insurer is asking for an at least 50 percent increase in premiums in Maryland. Burrell said uncertainty over the mandate played a “significant role” in the insurer’s rate requests.

Yup, all Trump's fault...just ignore the fact that Arizona's rates jumped 145% in 2017...rates which were set in 2016 when Trump was just an unlikely Republican primary candidate.

Of course, earlier this week we noted that the esteemed professor of MIT, and one of the original architects of Obamacare, Jonathan Gruber, is also touring the media circuit blaming the epic collapse of Obamacare on President Trump. Here is an exchange from last night with Chris Wallace on Fox News:

Gruber: "Look, and whose fault is this? Before President Trump was elected there were no counties in America that did not have an insurer. Since President Trump's been elected, a massive degree of uncertainty..." Wallace: "Wait, you're going to blame the problems with Obamacare on President Trump?" Gruber: "We had a situation under Obamacare where there was a one-time premium increase last year that made up for the fact that insurers massively under-priced in the first two years. The problem was fixed. Insurer profits were trending positively. Insurers were saying positive things about their ability to stay in the exchanges and succeed. Then you have a President who comes in, undercuts open enrollment, doesn't honor the obligations this law makes to insurers, and, as a result, premiums are going up and insurers are exiting."

Forward to the 7:50 mark for the relevant exchange:

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

Who needs facts when you have a good narrative?

We're sure all of Obamacare's coverage issues going back to 2014 are also Trump's fault in one way or another.

But sure, Obamacare is a great system and Republicans are trying to 'ruin' healthcare in America.