Will the White House demand that every business “justify” its price increases?
Demcare is in critical condition and the White House thinks it has the prescription for revival:
Insurer-bashing demagoguery.
There is now a coordinated effort underway to demonize Anthem Blue Cross in California for raising rates. Obama singled the company out in a 60 Minutes interview over the weekend and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is playing dutiful attack dog, demanding that Anthem “justify” its rate hikes to the federal government:
The Obama administration and state insurance officials pressured Anthem Blue Cross on Monday to justify its decision to raise rates by as much as 39 percent for thousands of outraged and frustrated California customers.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asked Anthem to explain its “extraordinary” premium increases for its individual policyholders.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Insurance demanded that Anthem delay its rate increases until May 1 to give the state time to investigate. Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said last week that he plans to hire an outside actuarial firm to make sure Anthem is spending at least 70 cents of each premium dollar on benefits.
The Obama administration and Poizner’s office were prompted to act after Anthem members with individual policies – those who are not covered through employer-sponsored or group plans – were told last week that they would have to pay premiums up to 39 percent higher than their current rates. The Woodland Hills (Los Angeles County) company would not say how many people will be affected, but Anthem has as many as 800,000 individual policyholders – more than any other for-profit insurer – in the state.
President Obama appears to be using Anthem’s decision to increase rates to bolster efforts to revive the stalled health overhaul effort in Congress. In a CBS interview with Katie Couric on Sunday, Obama referred to Anthem’s hikes as a reason why reform is needed.
On Monday, Sebelius told the health insurer’s president, Leslie Margolin, that Anthem has a responsibility to explain the increases, especially at a time when its parent company, WellPoint Inc., is earning strong profits. “These extraordinary increases are up to 15 times faster than inflation and threaten to make health care unaffordable for hundreds of thousands of Californians, many of whom are already struggling to make ends meet in a difficult economy,” Sebelius wrote, adding that WellPoint earned $2.7 billion in the last quarter of 2009 alone.
…Health insurers in California can raise rates for policyholders as much as they want and whenever they want. State regulators can oversee the increases to make sure they are handled correctly under the law, but have no power to control the rates.
Anthem, for its part, said higher medical costs as well as a smaller pool of members to absorb the risk made raising rates necessary.
“Unfortunately, in the weak economy many people who do not have health conditions are forgoing buying insurance,” the company wrote in a statement Monday responding to Sebelius’ letter. “This leaves fewer people, often with significantly greater medical needs, in the insured pool. We regret the impact this has on our members.”
A private company trying to survive in the marketplace must now “explain” itself to federal bureaucrats and career politicians who have never run a business (successful or otherwise) in their lives.
We already have a federal pay czar requiring companies to justify their pay raises and claiming authority to claw back bonuses already paid.
Will the White House next demand that other businesses — not just health insurers — justify price increases deemed unreasonable, excessive, or “extraordinary?”
***
Commenter jrlinggreenbay: “Oh, if only we were privy to the true administrative costs of our own government’s programs…”
***
…the underlying logic of [Sebelius's] demands is peculiar: Health care costs are going up rapidly—something everyone acknowledges, including Sebelius in the letter—but the people who provide health insurance should continue to behave as if they are staying the same, or perhaps only rising at the rate of inflation?
Sebelius also suggests that the people “deserve to know” if the rate increases will be spent disproportionately on administrative costs. But that level of disclosure—while appropriate for government-supplied health insurance, like Medicare or Medicaid—isn’t mandatory for private firms, and shouldn’t be. The secretary of health and human services doesn’t demand public disclosure measures when the cost of Tylenol goes up. This should be no different. But Sebelius’ letter is just as sign of the times on the health care issue, with the boundaries between public and private eroding increasingly rapidly.
***
Read Steve McGough:
I completely understand the feelings involved here, but you have to wonder and be willing to research increased costs at the health care delivery point (physicians and other health care providers), government required mandates that vary from state to state. If you’re running a company like WellPoint, you don’t just blindly pick a high premium increase and go with it.
WellPoint Inc. – parent company of Anthem Blue Cross in California – has a respectable 7.3 percent net profit margin for the most recent reported year, but a more impressive 14.4 percent net profit margin for the most recent quarter.
Are you willing to do the work to research why Anthem wants the rate increase? Are executives at Anthem willing to step up and detail the issues and why they need the increase in premiums?
By the way, what would you say if a health insurance company was a non-profit and requested a 25 percent increase in premiums? You think it would never happen?
Are you one that think the anti-trust exemption for the insurance industry is unfair? If so, are you willing to research the reason why many health insurance premiums – with the same benefits in the same area – are virtually the same? Maybe it has to do with actuarial math? Willing to check that out?
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My health insurance increased $40/month for 2010 coverage.
Arrrglebarrgle. /2 WTB [Catastrophic Care Coverage]x1 PST
Anthem Blue Cross to Administration – middle finger.
The Obama Administration lives by the old Russian adage,
“If all you have a hammer, treat everything like a nail.”
Pardon my French, but since their ideas on most everything suck with a plurality of the American people, this is the only tactic they have left.
However, I think people are seeing it for what it is and I think its effectiveness is now minimal.
Oh, if only we were privy to the true administrative costs of our own government’s programs…..
If this happens Thors_Hammer (#2) has the appropriate response.
Yeah, that’s a shame.
Simple, the government is making it more expensive to do business. Duh.
You think that’s expensive? Wait til you see your tax bill!
Hey Washington – do you think it may be because the hospitals have to increase their costs because of the amount of “undocumented people” that are “un-insured” using hospital facilities?
Hey Congress, how about if you have to ‘Justify’ your next pay raise?
Decrease the deficit… raise.
Increase the deficit… pay cut.
How would you like them apples?
I guess business must provide a justification for any price increase – but the Obama administration can increase taxes at will.
More descriptive.
When is Obama going to justify increasing the federal work force by 200,000 and giving them pay raises during a recession?
Responsibility? Isn’t that being a little coercive?
I have Anthem Blue Cross through my employer. It switched to Anthem after the previous insurer raised its rates significantly and it figured it could get more for its money anyway from Anthem.
Anthem needs to tell the feds to bugger off. It’s none of their business how a private company operates.
If there is no legal basis for Anthem to justify itself to HHS, and Lord knows what may have been hidden in some bill nobody read but passed, they ought to tell her and Obama to pound sand.
President Obama, to host a televised bipartisan health care meeting February 25th.
Rep Thaddeus McCotter On Cavuto 9 February 2010. Sitting in for Neil Cavuto, Charles Payne, asks Rep McCotter.
“Is the GOP up for this, are you going to take the bait.”
Thaddeus McCotter responds “I certainly don’t think we should take the bait.
GOP not goin there.
Every state has a department of insurance that approves every plan and rate hike. Insurance companies will raise rates on some high dollar plans (Cadillac plans) in the hopes that they ‘buy down’ benefits and lower their premiums.
Again, this is for INDIVIDUAL insurance (less than 15% of the market and my specialty). Group benefits markets don’t turn people down because of pre-existing conditions either.
Even if they taxed 100% of the increase in premiums and give it to the government, the costs to Medicare and Medicaid would not be affected. The PROBLEM with the system is that the government can not afford it’s portion of the health care bill it has promised.
The government cares when a company goes bankrupt like the Banks. It bails them out and screams at them for running a risky business. This is a case of a health insurance making sure that it brings in more than it spends. . . and the Obama administration thinks it is horrible.
So Obama’s solution if you fail, government should take you over.
Obama’s solution if you succeed,
government should take you over.
Obama’s solution to Medicare and Medicaid liabilities,
blame it on private insurance companies.
I am an Anthem customer and my increase is 31% this year. It seems that the idea is to double the premiums every two years. Say what you want but the cost of health care is out of control. There will not be any point of buying health insurance once it becomes cheaper to be sick.
Deflation is killing me.
Will the White House demand that every business “justify” its price increases?
I doubt the White House will demand anyone ‘justify’ their price increases, but would expect them to ask the insurance companies to ‘explain’ the price increases.
Words matter and there is a difference between ‘justify’ and ‘explain’.
Were I a policy holder, I would like an explanation, too. Maybe I would even seek the support of my elected representatives to look into it.
Though the larger question is, yes I would like an explanation, as to why the insurance companies charge different prices for the same thing.
Does the hamburger joint charge different prices to different people? Does the all you can eat place charge a different price to the 300 pound fat person and the 150 pound thin person?
Why would the insurance company charge an individual policy holder more than a company that carries the same policy for their individual employees? And, it isn’t about economy of scale, or spreading the administrative costs. An employee of a company recieves medical treatment individually, as does the single individual who has a policy. When that care is paid for by the insurance company, and in each case the treatment is the same, there is no difference in the costs to the insurer for handling each indivdual claim.
OK, maybe there is, but I do not see it.
All things being the same, treatment for any procedure for an individual policy holder versus treatment for an employee, what is the cost difference to the insurabce company?
I’m surprised that most insurance and HMO’s aren’t raising their rates in a last-ditch effort to make some money before the Democrat’s bill takes effect (or should I say “affect”).
Maybe if you are unhappy with Anthem, you’d like to get a quote from some other company on my website at my link? I might recommend Celtic.
As the lizard says. . . 15 minutes could save you 15%. . .
BTW, I got an e-mail yesterday from CA Insurance Commissioner and potential Tea Party conservative gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner that he has launched an investigation.
Insurance is a racket in CA because of corrupt government, not because insurance companies are constrained by unfair regulation.
I’d say it’s because private businesses don’t have the luxury of running up huge amounts of debt to be payable over the next 50 years by the next couple of generations.
This helps make a great argument for allowing competition across state lines. If Anthem Blue Cross can’t make a case for their increased rates, a competitor can make the case for buying your coverage from them. Same coverage, lower price, I know where I would purchase my coverage.
However, this would NOT allow the central government to control things, so it “ain’t gonna happen” until after the revolution!
There sure IS a difference.
“Explain” is the word this Administration uses to get the business to start talking. Once the administration gets the information it needs out of the business… “via the voluntary explanation” it then spins and demonizes what’s been divulged and moves to regulate that business.
There’s a reason arrested citizens have “a right to remain silent” and a reason why gov’t tries to coerce them to forfeit that right.
This is nothing more than Obama going fishing.
Makes perfect sense to me. Force the private companies into failure and then insure all those folks through the government option. Just make it obvious to these ignorant Americans that there is no, and there can never be any other provider than uncle Obama.
The cost to the insurance company is the same, but with employer-based policies, it’s harder (usually next to impossible) for an individual policy holder to switch insurance companies. That makes for a better deal for the insurance company, and so they encourage such an arrangement with lower premiums.
The problem stems from the tax code, which provides tax incentives for this kind of arrangements. Getting rid of that God-awful thing is where health care reform has to begin.
I took my spouse to have a bunch of healthcare (dental) done and told the doc I had no insurance, and the guy gave me a 10% discount.
I think businesses in the u.s. should plan on a donation free, gift free, grant free year. If the u.s. businesses didn’t give out a dime of it’s corporate money for one year, a few of these communist groups who spend their life criticising greedy businesses while begging for money might learn just how generous our businesses are.
Oh, and for the record, they DID use the word “Justification”.
The justification starts with an F and ends with a U….
Having 50 (ok 57) Insurance Czars screwing up the free market doesn’t help either.
Exactly.
Blackstone, I have made a career out of helping individuals find policies. It can be hard, but there is always a solution.
Agreed. I think taxing benefits is a good idea. The problem is that Unions don’t like it. The only people that have the super good benefits that cause the costs to go up for all of us because they don’t bear equal share of the cost burden are the Unions. Most non-union companies have had the sense to lower their health care costs by increasing their out of pocket expenses.
It’s a good business decision. But if the tax incentive weren’t there, lots of people would be better off in individual and family plans that they have no matter where they work.
Obama is getting ideas from Chavez now.
But don’t dare suggest that he is a socialist, statist, gov’t control-freak thug.
They won’t be happy until they’ve reduced the U.S. down to the GNP of Haiti. It’s only fair.
Remove the regulatory controls at the Federal and State levels that prevent free market competition, then watch healthcare take off, but that would be to sensical.
to s/b too (slap!)
In the real world, prices are established by cost, supply and demand and competition. Open the insurance markets to interstate competition, give companies tax incentives and enact tort reform with other cost control measures. Then LEAVE THE MARKETPLACE ALONE.
Fixed it for you… Obama and the Dems
Funny that the Right to be secure in our persons, papers, and property…
Turned into a Right to Privacy, which then justified the taking of a life (abortion)…
But then Corporations, which do under this legal framework, have Rights, do not have the Right to basic information Privacy… but MUST explain…
How the heck does that make any sense…
Well, John Edwards is returning to the private sector and his income needs are going to have to increase significantly.
Anthem Blue Cross may just be anticipating the financial future.
This is what 70 years of liberalism (ie, the entitlement mentality) brings us to.
As John Stossel so correctly observed: The “affordable health care” problem in this country isn’t not enough insurance; rather, it’s too much insurance.
As soon as the delusion “someone else should pay the bill” hits critical mass, the house of cards is destined to collapse.
Just as the physician should “heal thyself”, the insured should also “insure thyself.”
Or suffer the consequences (oops, I said a bad word.)
Anthem is under no legal or moral obligation to explain, justify, defend this or any other rate increase to the government. It may make good business sense to do so to it’s customers if it chooses. If they do not like what they hear they can take their business elsewhere and Anthem will suffer the consequences. That is how the market works.
Best outcome is that people start to learn the cheapest and best option for most people (which also will drive down health care costs for others) is pay most expenses out of pockets and only carry catastrophic coverage. Health care is not a right but a service that you buy and is subject to the same economic forces of supply and demand. Government programs and Cadillac insurance plans have increased the demand to the point there is no downward pressure on prices. No amount of new govt. programs, subsidies or commissions will change this fundamental rule. There is no free lunch, no matter what the Dems want everybody to believe.
I needed a good laugh zzyz, thanks.
So price and wage controls are the solution to problems caused by price and wage controls?
Got it.
Hence the problem with liberal politics. Where do they stop? How do they choose which people they will help and which people they will not because of scarce resources?
Who makes too much? Who do they not look at for how much they make? What industries do they target vs which do they leave alone?
Prime candidates for corruption when they start trying to fix the worlds problems. Fix that and pocket cash so they can continue to do the good work for the American people and the people of the world.
You’re welcome.
Please note the rates were raised in CALIFORNIA where the pool of payers has become smaller and the pool of non-payers has become larger. One can guess if that is due to the recession or illegals or both, but the point is there are fewer people paying for the rest of the people who are not.
Anthem Blue Cross should use a public forum to explain their price increases…
Medical costs in California are increasing drastically since uninsured illegal aliens are incurring medical costs without paying for them. These costs are shifted to the insured, which results in much higher expenses to insurance companies, who then have to increase rates to pay the higher costs.
When politicians force a policy of ignoring inconvenient laws regarding citizenship, pass poor laws regarding insurance and medical coverage, higher costs naturally ensue.
But of course Anthem Blue Cross will need to use smaller words when explaining it to Obama and the Dems. One syllable might do it…
On second thought, maybe they should draw pictures…
Democrats -> Illegals -> Medical Costs -> Insurance Rates
So lets see now:
Anthem Blue Cross is “big” and “bad” because it costs too much, is unfair to its customers, and can’t manage its budget properly.
And the Despercrat solution is to bring government in to “solve” that “problem” (presumably because government isn’t “big” or “bad”, is not unfair to its constituents, and can manage it’s budget properly).
Absolutly no f’ing different than hiring a convicted pedophile to protect one’s children.
I know, I know exactly what you mean! Like when you “explain” your posts with all the fervor of an OCD engulfed anal retentive, and yet they still remain wholly unjustified!
Like someone else mentioned, I should have also thrown in the shrinking pool of insureds due to politicians forcing businesses to close or move to another state through the passing of anti-business laws and tax increases.
Anthem can give the Obama administration the proctologist salute.
If the people who have Anthem don’t like it they can switch. If they can’t switch, all the more reason to open competition across state lines.
Anthem: We raised our premiums because California has said we have to pay for sex change operations, abortion on demand, botox for the buttocks, and every other kind of deviant procedure known to man.
I beg to differ Thacker, unions are not the only ones who carry what is often mislabed “Cadillac” care. We carry it for ourselves and employees, it barely meets the threshold, has a fairly high deductible and does not include vision care, mamograms, etc. The proposed Obama care tax on that beauty was 40%.
We are the kind of small business owners who make the economy grow. Good luck with that.
“The cost to the insurance company is the same.”
That is what I thought.
OK, but why would the insurance companies charge a higher premium to one and not the other?
You’ve added a whole new level to the discussion, and my not fully understanding of the situation.
Is the impact of the tax code on the insurance companies, the companies (who provide coverage to their employyees), or the individual?
Professor Terguson: Good answer. Good answer. I like the way you think. I’m gonna be watching you.
Thornton Melon: [chuckling to his classmates] Good teacher. He really seems to care. About what I have no idea.
Reading these comments, I’m just wondering: am I the only one who has seen his cost of doing business explode the past 3-4 years? I am paying more than double what I was paying just three years ago on health insurance, E&O insurance and all of my licensing and registration fees have increased more than 50%.
Let’s at least start from the position that cost of doing business is killing jobs in this country and that those costs are not due to Obama sending a bill for “government intrusion fee”. They are very explicit costs (that were going up when Bush was president too).
We have a real problem and even if we kill Obama (the faster the better), will the Republicans pick up the ball and push for tort reform, interstate competition and to strong but efficient regulation?
Well, it’s nothing that a couple million dollar campaign contribution can’t clear up.
Words do matter. Now if people could just read them.
correction:
We have a real problem and even if we kill
ObamaObamaCare (the faster the better)…I was not advocating assassinating the president.
Too late. A google search will take that out of context. Correction will be left out of the 11:00 news.
*knock* *knock* *knock*
Secret Service Mr. Phil.
We’d like to have a word with you.
Health care costs have gone up far faster than the rate of inflation for decades. It’s not a new phenomenon.
Insurance isn’t the only villain. Government regulations contribute; union demands contribute; frivolous lawsuits contribute; lack of competition contribute; fraud and waste contribute; and, not last and not least, everyone out there who wants to pay one dollar for insurance and get back 100 to 500 dollars worth of health care in return. No one wants to contribute toward their own healthcare with higher co-payments; sharing the cost of the premiums; and stop running to the doctor for tons of tests (partly because of frivolous law suits) for the sniffles.
I’ve always wondered when the insurance company’s said they weren’t making the profit and the doctor’s said they weren’t making all the money where all these mysterious middle men were that were getting rich?
Depending on your age, think back to a time when your family never dreamed of having health care insurance. Families paid cash for the doctor’s visits. It’s not been that long ago when insurance became a “right” and a “necessity”. Somewhere around the 1950s or early 1960s it seemed to start enmasse. Before that it was pay as you go and healthcare insurance was not high on the priority list.
Government take over of the health care payment system isn’t the answer as it won’t keep costs under control. If it does, fewer and fewer will enter the medical field and competition for services will get greater. And, if that happens, you better speak fluent Indian, Arabic, or Chinese as there won’t be many American doctors around to converse with.
I am not really apologizing for the insurance companies. It makes a lot of sense to save money on health care by increasing your out of pocket costs. If they did tax Cadillac plans, you could either work out a plan with your agent that falls under the tax. . . or you could pay your employees more and have them buy insurance in the individual market on their own.
You don’t because you get a tax break on benefits you give your employees. That increases the costs of health care.
Insurance companies do a lot of bad things. I’ve argued with them on a lot of things. But the solution isn’t more of them (as Stossel says). You have to put the person consuming in touch with the cost. If you pay the same amount for caviar as beans, you’ll probably choose caviar even though beans will make you more full.
The government already pays more than half of our medical bills. That always drives prices up.
The government also has a cap on how many doctors can intern in the US every year. Econ 101 – Caps equal shortages.
No politician would dare to touch medicare / medicaid, and we’re all getting older in a big bunch.
It’s only going to get worse…
And any tax on health care should be used to shore up Medicare. Medicare is the Hindenburg of health care. People like it because it is expensive. If we don’t fix that, it will be ‘oh the Humanity’.
The problem is that none of the President, Pelosi, or Reid’s plans do anything to fix Medicare except cut 500B from what they should pay doctors and hospitals to provide the care.
That’s not a fix. If they pass this ‘health care bill’ and it doesn’t fix Medicare, they’ll have to address this again within 5 years.
Kudos, rogue!
Here’s a test:
Now, can you tell the difference between the above and an actual post from the endless, empty poster?
If so,… how ?
Since it’s such a great idea, they should treat car insurance the same as health insurance.
Car insurance should cover…
* annual tune-ups
* new wiper blades every 6 months
* oil and filter change every 4000 miles
* cover pre-existing dents
Surely that wouldn’t drive up the cost of tune-ups, oil changes, wiper blades, the insurance itself…?
/sarc
The government needs everybody else to control costs while letting its own costs spin out of control. If Bho wants to lower costs, then the first thing to do is allow insurance companies to sell across state lines. Our government had better wise up and cut spending before the Chinese do our budget for us.
The Feds are bad enough. State and local governments are worse. But just try to get them to explain themselves. If Obama/Sebelius push this, then Americans and business should push back and hard.
Keep in mind that Americans are so dependent on the current perverted heathcare insurance business model precisely because of 70 years of government meddling in the marketplace.
Correct.
The socialists set the house on fire, have been pouring more and more gasoline on it since then; and now are screaming that even more gasoline is needed to be poured on it, in order to put it out.
Dangerous, evil idiots.
Vote with your dollars. Seems simple enough to me. Anthem isn’t the only provider. Do some research and go buy a policy somewhere else. If Anthem sees enough customers leaving and traces that to increased premiums, and they can continue to be profitable on that product, prices will be forced back down. Simple.
You’re welcome.
This cements my thought that President Obama is ANTI- Insurance Industry. Period. I work for a large insurance company and I think it’s sad that he went to such extreme measures to revise HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.)… This was originally set up to protect individuals, but it is a pain for almost everyone!
Please look at the HITECH law which states now that INDIVIDUALS inside an insurance, or medical company can now be PERSONALLY held responsible for minor mistakes. We can be charged anywhere from $100-250,000.00 per privacy incident and we can personally go to PRISON for 1-10 years per incident. Not Jail. PRISON.
This is ridiculous. I’m all for protecting personal and health information- but everyone makes mistakes.
People are afraid now to even DO their jobs because we don’t want to go to prison or get fined. This is EXACTLY what Obama and the socialist party of the united states wants!
I never thought we’d actually be living in the socialist nazi run world of Ayn Rand, but here we are.
Now what are we going to do?
Excuse me- did I say President Obama? My bad. He’s not my president.
I meant to say, Der Fuhrer.
Anthems response to Obama should be ‘Because I said so’
not that Im a fan of insurance companies but… my company just dumped Anthem for a new one. But now one of the prescriptions that i get every month is not covered by the new coverage plan. So I was better off with the rate increase. You win some, you lose some
Simple solution: Reduce Federal Goverment in all areas allowable under the Constitution- strict interpretation version. Hold your local government to task for specific needs. Elect or depose your local representatives as appropriate. DEMAND specific value for your money or refuse the tax. Hold individuals responsible for personal needs and behavior. Allow religious charity as widely as they are willing to respond.
What business is it theirs? Maybe the rates went up because taxes on the “greedy corporations” have skyrocketed there. I know, though, that Obama, in reality, doesn’t give a darn about Anthem in California, along with his adminstration. It’s just a useful tool to promote why he and his cronies should be running the economy.
Most of Wellpoints/Anthem profit came from the sale of it’s pharmaceutical branch, NOT from insurance premiums. In fact Anthem paid about 85% of the premiums it received back out for claims, according to a WSJ article I saw the last couple of days.
Somebody has to be the bad guy and right now it is insurance companies.
The other reason for the big increase in CA is something called mandates. That is those procedures and tests that an insurance company must cover. So for instance just because you are a man your premiums include mammograms, and pregnancy care.
Women you are paying for the guys prostrate exam.
Everybody in CA pays for alcohol and drug abuse treatment.
Can we separate health care costs from health care insurance?
Obama talked about the poor lady from his campaign that died and wanted to be buried in an Obama t-shirt. He whined about her lack of insurance. I don’t think that was her problem. Her problem was she contracted a fatal disease.
There is no correlation between the uninsured illegal alien population and California’s insurance rates. This is a factual statement because I have no direct evidence to prove otherwise.
ThackerAgency, do you have any info on private policies in Washington state?
I haven’t yet read all the comments, so someone might have already mentioned it, but this is totally immaterial! Anyone who knows just a little about business knows that each company has to make it on its own, and can’t be perpetually funded by another. Whether the parent company made money or not isn’t the issue.
On a side note, since insurance is regulated by the states, could someone please give me a legitimate why Kathleen Sebelius needs to be involved?
DOH! A legitimate reason why Kathleen Sebelius needs to be involved.
(and I even previewed it!)
Excellent sarcasm!
Kinda like Obama when he said “My health care plan isn’t intended to cover illegal immigrants”.
If he’s so smart, how in the world can he believe the public at large is stupid enough to believe that would actually mean such immigrants in fact would not be covered?
Oh yeah, he’s a Lib, he believes his own lies.
Kathleen Sebelius is a HEALTH INS. LOBBYIST !!!!!!
She’s one of the 45 lobbyists obama has at the WH.
What are they up too?
What is the other hand doing?
I don’t trust ANYTHING they say or do.
Health care prices increase to a large extent because the Obamacrats keep adding people to government welfare health programs that frequently pay 40% or lower than regular fees. The providers pass this onto paying customers as price increases, via the insurers.
It’s not rocket science. If the goal is to reduce the increase in health care costs, STOP adding more people to underpaying government programs and increase how much government pays to the prevailing wage (or fee).
Why is prevailing wage good for union workers and teachers, but not for health care workers?
I am a dyed in the wool conservative and hate the intrusion of big government into our lives and into the marketplace. But I was stunned last week when I checked what it will cost for my healthy 21 year old daughter to get a fraction of the employer provided healthcare that my wife obtains for the family when she has to buy a private policy upon college graduation. And the policy excludes pre-existing conditions, maternity care, etc.
I challenge every poster to go online tonight and get some health insurance quotes. You will be stunned what private policies cost.
If Aetna follows Anthem’s lead the quote I got for her will jump from $260/month to $364/mo. – a $1248 annual increase in after tax expense.
The Republicans need to press for inter-state availability of policies, a cafeteria style array of coverages to select from, and catastrophic coverage policies. Health care spending accounts should be available to all and amounts should be allowed to carryover from year to year.
The voters will support all these – the only nay-sayers will be the progressives and socialists in Congress and the White House.
Maybe if the government would stop regulating insurance policies, the price might go down. For example, I’m a 60 year old married male, paying, every month for pre-natal care and well-baby care, not to mention alcohol/drug abuse treatment, because the government feels I need it.
I wonder if the white house will ask Russia to justify charging more to transport American astronauts than space tourists (now that the once great American space program is being relegated to the scrap heap).
Well, let’s see. We support something like what 9 million illegals here and their healthcare is “free” (i other words, I pay for it). We’re in the hole here for $22 billion – yet the illegals cost us $11 billion a year to support.
Do we really need an outside “actuarial” firm to figure this out? Give me a break.
I ain’t satisfied till there’s an obituary that follows a noticable stench.
One of the reasons that the premiums went up is that the feds mandated that mental health be covered.
This was a rider attached to the TARP by Patrick Kennedy and signed by Bush.
It’s all just unbelievable.
Will conant be required to explain his bonus?
I thought I died and went back to the seventies. “Whip Inflation Now” anyone?
Is there no failure so catastrophic that it cannot be recycled by Washington?
I’ve seen it all before. It didn’t work then, and it’s not going to work now.
All you grade school kids out there planning on a lemonade stand this summer consider yourself warned. No gouging the customers with higher prices!
All that finger pointing reminds me of this
We have Federal Long Term Care Insurance and when I purchased it the Gubmint said their goal was to not raise premiums thru competitive bidding. Well they just re-bid the 5 year contract and—and—and–my premium to obtain the exact amount of coverage we had went up. I could have kept the same premium by reducing the cost of living inflation %. Do as I say not as I do. Idiots all.