Anthem Blue Cross withdraws request for rate hikes,state insurance regulators rejected the proposals

[cal04]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-anthem-m,0,4437924.story

California health insurer Anthem Blue Cross is withdrawing rate increases of as much as 39% for thousands of California policyholders after state insurance regulators rejected the proposals, officials announced Thursday.

California's largest for-profit insurance company will re-file its rates in May, company executives said, but would not say how big the increases will be or how soon they might be in place. The rates affect an estimated 800,000 Californians who buy individual policies.

"They have notified us that they are withdrawing their rates that they filed in November," said Darrel Ng, a spokesman for the California Department of Insurance. "We notified Anthem Blue Cross earlier this week that we would likely find their filing unacceptable due to errors."

"We provided Anthem with the evidence and they agreed that they had made mistakes," he said. Anthem and its parent company, WellPoint Inc., have faced intense criticism from consumers, regulators and elected leaders, including President Obama. The rate increases were set to take effect March 1 and then were delayed amid controversy.