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Health Insurer Tries to Jack Rates—59%

Blue Shield of California cites rising costs, new health care law

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 6, 2011 10:03 AM CST

(Newser) – Blue Shield of California wants to jack up its health insurance rates a whopping 59% for individual policyholders this year, saying the increase is “absolutely necessary” to deal with rising health care costs and restrictions in the new health care law. Policyholders have complained to the state insurance commissioner, who says he wants the legislature to give him the power to regulate insurance rates the same way he regulates automobile rates.

The hike would affect 193,000 policyholders. One man tells the LA Times that his bill will jump from $271 a month to $431. “When I tell people, their jaws drop and their eyes bug out,” he says. “The amount is stunning.” Just a year ago Blue Cross of California tried to raise its rates up to 39%, sparking a national outcry and building support for health care reform. The insurer eventually backed down.

Blue Shield wants to drastically raise its rates.
Blue Shield wants to drastically raise its rates.   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 48 comments
Nwambe
Jan 6, 2011 8:27 PM CST
My God. Look, I know Republicans and Democrats have problems with each others' politics, but we can ALL agree that this is irresponsible. I live in Canada. We have our own unique problems with healthcare, and with the numbers of elderly, it will probably become worse before it gets better... But I look over at you guys and some of stuff people post and it makes me cringe. I kinda wish we could open up our healthcare system to those of you who really need it so that claiming a simple visit to the doctor won't bankrupt you or raise your rates to unrealistically high levels. I know both models have their problems, but I can say irrespective of my politics that I am genuinely sorry for those whose premiums have gone up half-again through no fault of their own. I hope that the people who run these corporations wake up and stop running them for profit and start running them for the public good.
schmidtkoff
Jan 6, 2011 7:03 PM CST
us health care whether mandated or subscribed sucks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Canada health care in mexico: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Mexico, MEXICO CITY — It sounds almost too good to be true: a health care plan with no limits, no deductibles, free medicines, tests, X-rays, eyeglasses, even dental work — all for a flat fee of $250 or less a year. to lazy to look for the comps on canadian vs. american, vs. mexico but: It looks like Americans spend more on health care than they do on food. And they spend more on health care than China spends on all goods. The telling piece is that 40% of the 2+ trillion dollars is spent on outpatient care. Same day care for treatments that do not require a hospital stay. A nation of hypochondriacs? Or worse yet how about insurance fraud? Why would outpatient care be so high? http://healthcare.democratsabroad.ca/ more SHOULD be revealed, for we are getting ripped off royally.
toeser
Jan 6, 2011 3:23 PM CST
One of the provisions of Obamacare is that insurers pay out a minimum of 80% of premiums for actual healthcare. So, if Blue Shield meets that criteria, then that will demonstrate the actual cost of healthcare under Obamacare, not just profiteering by an insurance company. Did you think all those new people would get covered for free? If at least 80% of the premiums are paid out for actual healthcare claims, then going with a government plan would not reduce costs significantly, if at all, because government would need as much or more bureaucracy in place to run the system. There are only a few things that will save our healthcare system. 1) Tort reform. 2) Nationwide competition by insurance companies. 3) Less insurance for basic health care with coverage restricted to major and catastrophic costs to get people involved in shopping their own healthcare. 4) A move to get kids and adults off their fat asses with more exercise and better diets. If the whole damn country gets diabetes, healthcare will break all of us.
US • Health

 
California • health insurance • health care reform • Blue Cross • Blue Shield

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