Friends,
Join the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore in a vigil outside Rep. Elijah Cummings’ office,
Kagiso,
Max
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/health/policy/16anthem.html?th&emc=th
February 16, 2010
Although he had no known medical problems, the company was raising the premium on his individual health insurance policy by 34 percent, to $254 a month. The policy for his partner, who is 12 years older, would rise 36 percent, to $369.
“Ten percent I could have rationalized,” said Mr. Punzet, 34, a financial controller for a
With health care negotiations stalled in
At a moment when the health care debate seemed drained of urgency, the rate increases have permitted Mr. Obama to remind Americans of what is at stake, not just for the uninsured but for those whose coverage is threatened by unregulated hyperinflation.
The spike in Anthem’s premiums, Mr. Obama warned last week, were “just a preview of coming attractions” if the country failed to overhaul its health insurance system.
But if Anthem was the whipping boy the White House needed, the confrontation has also reinforced an emerging shift of focus in
Recognizing a no-lose proposition when they see one, politicians in
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius challenged the company to justify its “extraordinary” rate increases and, when it did in a five-page letter, volleyed that she was not satisfied. She expressed indignation that some of Anthem’s increases would be up to 15 times the rate of inflation, and that WellPoint had earned $2.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009.
“Too many Americans are at the whim of private, for-profit insurance companies who are raking in billions in profits each year,” Ms. Sebelius wrote on the White House blog.
She did not mention that most of WellPoint’s fourth-quarter surge came from the one-time sale of a business unit or that Anthem lost money on the individual market in
Although Anthem, the state’s largest for-profit insurer, has seemed outmaneuvered by the White House so far, it has tried to transform its defensive position into a teachable moment.
In statements and letters, Anthem and WellPoint have explained what the industry calls a recessionary death spiral: as unemployment and declining wages prompt healthy people to drop their insurance, the remaining risk pool becomes sicker and more expensive to insure, which in turn forces up prices and pushes more people out of the market.
A study released this week found that the five largest health insurance companies collectively lost 2.7 million customers last year, including 1.4 million by WellPoint. Yet they reported record profits of $12.2 billion.
The death spiral “highlights why we need sustainable health care reform to manage the steadily rising costs of hospitals, drugs and doctors,” Anthem, which is based in Los Angeles, said in a statement.
To many in recession-racked
“As a trial lawyer, I’d make it Exhibit A,” said Joshua C. Needle, 57, of
Mr. Needle, like many of the 13 million Americans who buy insurance individually rather than through employers, cannot shop for a better deal because he has medical conditions like high cholesterol and glaucoma that would probably disqualify him with other carriers.
Once accepted by an insurer, consumers cannot be dropped for medical reasons. But in
Mr. Poizner, who is running for governor in the Republican primary, has hired actuaries to study whether Anthem is spending at least 70 percent of premium revenues on claims, as required by state regulations. WellPoint officials said they were confident that Anthem exceeded the threshold.
In the health care bills that have passed each chamber, but not been reconciled, Congressional Democrats would attack the cost of premiums in several ways. Everyone would be required to have health insurance, spreading risk among larger pools. Health insurance marketplaces, or exchanges, would force insurers to compete more transparently. Insurers would be prohibited from denying or canceling coverage because of medical conditions, and would be forced to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on claims.
Paradoxically, since WellPoint has lobbied vigorously against the legislation, the company argued last week that its “unfortunate but necessary” rate increases demonstrated the need for a major fix.
But the company found fault with the Democrats’ proposals, particularly what it sees as soft enforcement of a health insurance mandate that would allow millions of people to remain uninsured. Only if everyone is covered, the insurance industry argues, can it spread its risks sufficiently to stop rejecting those with pre-existing conditions.
“The reform being discussed in
Medical costs have typically risen by 5 percent to 10 percent during each of the last five years. Mr. Poizner said he was starting to see significant increases for individual policies sold by some of Anthem’s competitors, and double-digit increases have been reported in other states.
Several insurance analysts said it was possible, but not necessarily likely, that such increases would become common, at least while the economic downturn persists. Insurance brokers in
“It’s more astonishment than irritation,” a
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"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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