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Sebelius Lashes Out at Anthem for Premium Increases
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is demanding that Anthem Blue Cross publicly justify its decision to raise member premiums by as much as 39%.
In a letter to Leslie Margolin, president of Anthem Blue Cross, California's largest for-profit insurer, Sebelius bashed the premium increases at a time when WellPoint, Anthem's parent company, "earned $2.7 billion in the last quarter of 2009."
Anthem Blue Cross, which has 800,000 individual insurance members, recently told individual members that it is increasing premiums on March 1. The Los Angeles Times reported last week that those premium increases were as high as 39%.
"As we continue the healthy insurance reform debate in Washington, this announcement reminds us that too many Americans can be left with unaffordable insurance each time the rates or rules change in the private market," Sebelius said. "It's clear that we need health insurance reform that will give American families the secure, affordable coverage they need."
In her letter, Sebelius said the premium increases are up to 15 times faster than inflation and could make healthcare unaffordable for hundreds of thousands of Californians.
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R. W. Arnegger (2/13/2010 at 11:09 PM)
You guy's are suffering from crainial rectal inversion! When you show quarterly profits and management salaries like you do and and when the average person can't afford your insurance I'm surprised there is more outrage.
Todd Madden (2/10/2010 at 7:35 AM)
Where is the outrage by Sebelius when a hospital increases its negotiated rates with health plans to cover Medicare and Medicaid underpayment and illegal immigrants?
John Chamberlain (2/9/2010 at 5:50 PM)
I agree that doctors and hospitals provide care and should have a hand in controlling the cost. Equipment and pharmaceutical manufacturers also have a hand in this as does each individual.
We, as consumers of healthcare, have for so long been allowed to do pretty much whatever we want as it relates to lifestyle and the impact that has on cost. We have also had, for the most part, free rein to see whatever provider we want for whatever reason.
Managed care, unfortunately for the most part, does not manage care, it manages the premium dollar. Instead of focusing on the factors involved in increasing costs, insurers response is to raise premiums, which does nothing to control the actual cost.
Prevention, increased primary care emphasis, community-level health systems, medical home and accountable care organizations hold real promise to get the cost problem under control. The devil here is getting the medical/industrial/insurance complex to buy into these new ways of doing things.
Appropriate care in the appropriate setting at the appropriate time should be the bywords for improving the healthcare issues in our great country.