Insurance Commissioner Opposes Anthem Rate Increase January 9, 2013 News Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California, Dave Jones, insurance rate increase, Anthem rate increase 0 Rate filings on the California Department of Insurance website show 15 filings that affect either individuals or small employers over the first four months of 2013. They include two rate cuts by Anthem and 13 hikes by a variety of plans that also include Blue Shield of California, Health Net, Aetna, and Kaiser Permanente. The proposed increases run as high as an average of 16.1 percent for a very small group of small employers covered by Health Net and 26 percent for more than 340,000 individual members covered by Anthem Blue Cross. Today’s San Francisco Chronicle reports that California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said a rate increase proposed by Anthem Blue Cross on small employers is unreasonable. He also said the insurer should not charge Affordable Care Act fees in 2013, since the federal government won’t collect that money until 2014. Anthem’s rate increase would average about 10.6% a year. Jones said it would affect 52,000 members now, but ultimately it would affect nearly a quarter of a million Californians who participate in Anthem’s small group policy. “Anthem Blue Cross told me that regardless of our conclusion that the rate increase was unreasonable, they were increasing the rates, and they’re free to do so under California law because there is no law that gives the Insurance Commissioner the authority to reject excessive rate hikes,” explained Jones. But Anthem Blue Cross said the rate hike reflects rising health care costs and would amount to seven and a half percent a year. Anthem said that’s comparable to increases sought by other insurers. Source: San Francisco Chronicle, January 9, 2013 Comments are closed.
