Blue Shield of California seeks rate hikes of as much as 59% for individuals

[villager]

Source: LA Times

Blue Shield of California seeks rate hikes of as much as 59% for individuals

Insurer says the increases result from fast-rising healthcare costs and other expenses resulting from new healthcare laws. The move comes less than a year after Anthem Blue Cross tried and failed to raise rates as much as 39%.


By Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times


Another big California health insurer has stunned individual policyholders with huge rate increases — this time it's Blue Shield of California seeking cumulative hikes of as much as 59% for tens of thousands of customers March 1.

Blue Shield's action comes less than a year after Anthem Blue Cross tried and failed to raise rates as much as 39% for about 700,000 California customers.

San Francisco-based Blue Shield said the increases were the result of fast-rising healthcare costs and other expenses resulting from new healthcare laws.

"We raise rates only when absolutely necessary to pay the accelerating cost of medical care for our members," the nonprofit insurer told customers last month.

In all, Blue Shield said, 193,000 policyholders would see increases averaging 30% to 35%, the result of three separate rate hikes since October. Nearly 1 in 4 of the affected customers will see cumulative increases of more than 50% over five months.

<snip>



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/health/healthcare/la-fi-insure-rates-20110106,0,6975599.

[tomm2thumbs]

1. the Tea Baggers will think that is fair - let's watch

:popcorn:

[Hoyt]

5. Sadly, they'll simply blame it on "Obamacare." Good side, is that . . . . . .

Won't be long before they demand that the government do something.

[tomm2thumbs]

7. they'll want health care as long as THEY are the ones who put their name on it

it's the ownership syndrome

[glinda]

17. All our utilities went up and in each notice blamed the Government.

[notesdev]

18. that would be partly correct

We got HCR instead of the reform we should have gotten, which would have been one that actually addressed skyrocketing costs.

Controlling costs was the whole raison d'etre in the first place for reform, but by the time Congress got through, it was totally forgotten. HCR is Exhibit A, a prime example of how broken our political system is.

[yourout]

2. This is why a Public Option was so critical.

[bluedigger]

3. Nicely timed.

In concert with the seating of the new congress, and their hysteria over repealing HCR. Well orchestrated, indeed.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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[Hoyt]

6. You must be young, I paid over $600 with $7,500 deductible.

And was stuck with them because of minor pre-existing conditions.

Sad thing is, a public option won't be much cheaper (although, I'd like to have the option) unless we change how we consume, and what we expect, from health care.

In any event, hope things work out for you.

[Justitia]

8. And we pay $1,400 / mo for COBRA which we are terrified to lose.

We will become uninsured in May, when COBRA runs out.

My husband is 59 yrs old and on multiple heart medications.

Completely uninsurable in the private market.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Do your meds cost more or less than $1400 a month?

I found that paying premiums was preventing me from affording actual CARE.

[Justitia]

15. Approximately half of that amount. But nowhere close to the cost of heart attack or stroke.

Not to mention, my husband cannot even schedule a cardiologist appt if he does not have insurance.

[glinda]

16. I am sorry. That is about what happened to us also.

[begin_within]

10. Thanks

I'll be 51 in March. It's gotten to this: my doctor knows I have Blue Shield, but my copayment is so high and the cost to him of submitting a bill to Blue Shield, that he actually charges me as a cash payment, $35 for each follow-up visit, and that's cheaper to me than using Blue Shield. So what good is the insurance except shielding me from a catastrophic hospital bill and it doesn't even do that very well.

[savalez]

9. Thank the Republicans too.

[begin_within]

11. Thank you, Republicans.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. I dropped mine, too

It was useless with all the deductibles and copays and premiums, and it didn't cover me when I really needed it, yet they kept deducting premiums from my bank account.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. I realize that some people can't do this, but

I wish more people would just drop their insurance. Make the system crash. It's the only power we have anymore.

Do the math. You may find that paying out-of-pocket is cheaper than paying for insurance, with the deductibles and copays.

Yes, something catastrophic could happen. But would your insurance cover you enough to prevent bankruptcy? Mine wouldn't have.

[crim son]

19. There is nothing to stop them and

every reason to ask for the hikes, from a business perspective. Obama's HCR reform, oddly, did not take into account the rate hike that were inevitable in light of the new requirements. Either that or the assumption was made that many if not most people would not be able to afford such insurance and would turn to government options... a form of single-payer?

[defendandprotect]

20. We should all be pounding on the White House doors for MEDICARE FOR ALL....

if Obama won't do it, let's find a Democrat who will!!

It will break the hearts of Big Pharma and the private health care industry

which Obama has been protecting -- but tough on both of them!

:nuke:

[No Elephants]

21. Duh.

[Vinca]

22. I wouldn't be surprised if, by 2014, a third of the population is begging for medical care.

We need a government health program and we need it now.

[Blue_Tires]

23. as predicted...they are gonna keep turning the screws

i said from the start that any proper reform should have put all the 'healthcare' mafia out of business....