September 13, 2010 12:33PM 

# Sebelius’ Prior Restraint on Speech 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

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Here’s something [else](https://www.cato.org/secretary-sebelius-slips-on-the-brass-knuckles/) to consider about HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ threatening [letter](http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/09/20100909a.html) to health insurers who dare to tell their enrollees about how much [ObamaCare](https://www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/BadMedicineWP.pdf) is costing them.

Sebelius threatened insurers for claiming ObamaCare will increase premiums by as much as 9 percent. Yet there were no threats issued against the RAND Corporation when it [estimated](http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-03-29-insurance-premiums_N.htm) ObamaCare will increase premiums for young adults by an average of 17 percent beginning in 2014, or against Milliman Inc. when it likewise estimated premium increases of 10–30 percent for young adults. The reasons for the disparate treatment are fairly obvious. Sebelius has less power over RAND or Milliman, and bullies always find it easier to pick on the unpopular kid.

But an equally important implication is that Sebelius knows that ObamaCare’s largest premium increases are yet to come. Sebelius may be intimidating insurers now to prevent them from blaming those much larger premium increases on ObamaCare.

##### Related Tags 

[Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care), [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies) 

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