Insurance rate hikes

Health Care Showdown: The White House Takes on Insurers

Christina Bellantoni | March 4, 2010, 3:56PM

President Barack Obama and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

President Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today summoned the nation's four largest health insurers responsible for rate increases the administration calls "jaw-dropping." They demanded the insurers - WellPoint, Cigna, Aetna and United Health Group - start disclosing their rate increases on the Internet.

Everyone involved called the talks "constructive," but shortly after the meeting a report surfaced showing the nation's largest insurer would stand to profit substantially if reform fails.

The Washington Post's Ezra Klein got his hands on a report from a consulting firm which evaluated Wellpoint stock and concluded, "Of course, healthcare reform is a double-edged sword for Wellpoint shares. Should reform fail, Wellpoint would be a primary beneficiary."

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Anthem Blue Cross

Tension Thick At Insurance Hikes Hearing As Dems Demand CEO Salary Disclosure

Christina Bellantoni | February 24, 2010, 6:45PM

U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)

Sparks were flying at hearings today probing an expected 39 percent rate hike for Anthem Blue Cross customers in California as Democrats pilloried the insurer as greedy and Republicans used the event another platform to oppose health care reform.

Anthem parent company WellPoint's CEO Angela Braly was the main focus of Democratic ire and members of the Oversight subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee asked her to explain why such a profitable company was increasing rates so drastically.

"It's a difficult situation," she said, detailing the costs of care on the rise in California and across the country.

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Health Care

Insurance Rate Hikes Scrutinized On Capitol Hill As Anthem Forges Ahead With Increases In California

Christina Bellantoni | February 24, 2010, 10:02AM

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)

Insurance executives will be in the hot seat today as Congress probes scheduled health insurance rate increases for Anthem Blue Cross customers in California.

Democrats are putting the spotlight on Californians hurt by the rate hikes as witnesses today to put a real face on why health care reform is necessary. The Energy and Commerce panel's Oversight subcommittee hearing examining the rate increases was put together fairly quickly. From a political perspective, it's nicely timed to coincided with President Obama's health care summit tomorrow at the White House.

An executive from Anthem's parent company WellPoint told a California state Assembly panel yesterday they will forge ahead with the increases of as much as 39 percent after May 1, according to the Los Angeles Times. Earlier this month, Anthem was ordered to delay the increases to that spring date by the state's insurance commissioner.

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Health Care

Anthem Rate Hikes Just Tip Of Iceberg - Premiums Going Way Up In Six More States

Christina Bellantoni | February 18, 2010, 7:00AM

Kathleen Sebelius and Blue Cross Anthem inset

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today will release a new report showing more dramatic health insurance premium increases are proposed in Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.

Keying off the Obama administration's recent probe into a planned 39 percent rate hike from Anthem Blue Cross in California, Sebelius will detail large increases in six other states and say that given record insurer profits, health care reform has never been more urgent.

At 11:30 a.m. today, Sebelius will release the report, obtained by TPMDC and titled "Insurance Companies Prosper, Families Suffer: Our Broken Health Insurance System."

It finds that Anthem's rate increase (now delayed until May) is "not unique" and that experts say premiums will keep rising.

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Health Care

California Insurer's Rate Hike Becomes Rallying Point For Health Care Reform

Christina Bellantoni | February 15, 2010, 9:09AM

President Barack Obama

Anthem Blue Cross' proposed 39 percent rate increases in California have become a new rallying point for the Obama administration and Democrats eager to get health care reform across the finish line.

The issue gives President Obama and Democrats a new enemy that can help drive home the need to fix the health care system, and they won't be letting up any time soon, administration and Congressional sources tell TPMDC.

There will be Congressional hearings this month and Obama has held it up as an example.

Already they have seen results, with Anthem agreeing to delay the hikes until May.

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Health Care

Dems Ask California Insurer To Testify About Insurance Rate Hike

Christina Bellantoni | February 10, 2010, 3:08PM

U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)

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.

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Health Care

Obama Administration Demands Justification For Blue Cross Rate Increase

Christina Bellantoni | February 8, 2010, 3:29PM

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

The Obama administration has been decrying a California insurer's 39 percent rate hike as an example of why health care reform is so important, and today they put some muscle behind the complaints.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebeilus wrote a letter to Anthem Blue Cross today insisting they have an obligation to explain why the "extraordinary" increases are justified.

Sebelius writes: "Your company's strong financial position makes these rate increases even more difficult to understand. As you know, your parent company, WellPoint Incorporated, has seen its profits soar, earning $2.7 billion in the last quarter of 2009 alone."

An Anthem spokeswoman has not returned our calls.

The full letter after the jump.

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