Obama official 'very disturbed' by Anthem Blue Cross rate hi

[NINO]

Obama official 'very disturbed' by Anthem Blue Cross rate hikes


The insurer should give a 'detailed justification' for its plan to raise premiums on individual policies by as much as 39%, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urges.

California insurance regulators asked Anthem Blue Cross to delay controversial rate increases of as much as 39% for individual policies, hikes that have triggered widespread criticism from subscribers and brokers -- and now from the federal government.

In a rare step, the Obama administration called on California's largest for-profit insurer to justify its rate hikes, saying the increases were alarming at a time when subscribers face skyrocketing healthcare costs...


California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner asked Anthem's parent company, Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., to delay its rate increases until May 1 while an independent actuary, appointed by the state, could review them...


"The premium increases Anthem proposes for critically needed individual health insurance could have a devastating financial impact on hundreds of thousands of its policyholders in California," Poizner wrote. "The Department [of Insurance] has received numerous complaints from irate Californians describing how Anthem's proposed rate increases would cripple them financially."...


"I think all this is driven by money," said Los Angeles graphic designer Keith Knueven, whose rates will jump 37%, to $393 a month from $287. "It's hard for to me to understand how anyone can raise rates now when so many people don't have jobs."...