because mine was not going up every year?
Yes but on average people's cost was going up every year even if your individual experience didn't match that.
As to what they blamed it on take your pick, it really just came down to whatever you believed was ruining the country.
It has been blamed on:
illegals
lack of tort reform
too much regulation
not enough regulation
small businesses that use their size to get around rules
large corporations that use their size to get around rules
for profit insurance
for profit hospitals
insurance tied to employment
medicare/medicaid
aging boomers
increased life expectancy
the 'extraordinary measures' mentality of end of life care (think long term life support)
ability to treat diseases/conditions long term that were death sentences (thing nursing homes)
welfare families
people having too many kids
people not having enough kids (less than 2 average per couple)
Basically you can come up with hundreds of reasons and shape them to your own viewpoint. Now that there is a law that will have a more direct impact it is the obvious target. It is also an excellent time for a business to pass on costs that it has been thinking of doing anyways but to blame a third party.
Personally I never expected ACA to help with general healthcare costs just corner cases like existing conditions and lifetime limits. I thought the main purpose was to increase the participation rate which may or may not help with insurance costs but will at least mean that many more people are insured.