Dems Ask California Insurer To Testify About Insurance Rate Hike

Democrats have called on Anthem Blue Cross officials to testify about the 39 percent insurance rate hike their California customers have been told to expect this year.

Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Bart Stupak will hold a Feb. 24 hearing to examine the rate hike, which the Obama administration has called "extraordinary."

Waxman and Stupak wrote a letter to Anthem parent company WellPoint's President Angela Braly, asking for her testimony and documentation about why the increases are being imposed given WellPoint's profits. Read the letter in full here.

The committee asks Braly for internal communications, including email, about the rate hike. They also request internal presentations relating to the California increases.

They ask Braly to submit a table detailing WellPoint revenue, insurance claims, sales, general and administrative expenses and profits from 2005 through 2008. Also requested were the detailed rates and increases proposed in California from Jan. 1, 2009 through the end of 2010.

Waxman (D-CA) and Stupak (D-MI) gave Braly until Feb. 19 to submit the information.

As we have reported, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has demanded similar justification. Sebelius also blogged on the White House Web site holding Anthem up as a reason why reform is needed.

She writes:

What's happening in California can happen in any state. It's clear that we need health insurance reform that will give American families the secure, affordable coverage they need and put a stop to insurance company abuses and control out-of-pocket costs. We're closer than ever to reforming our health insurance system. Now is the time to finish the job.

Sebelius said that while Anthem has commented to the press, "they haven't given us the full answer we deserve."

Ed. note: This post has been edited from the original.