Massachusetts Health insurers seeking rate hike

[brentspeak]

Everyone in Massachusetts is mandated to purchase health insurance -- the same model for Obama's proposed national health insurance mandate.

http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2010/03/06/health_rate_hikes_flout_new_state_cap/?page=full

Three weeks after Governor Deval Patrick warned that his administration might turn down health insurance premium increases it deemed excessive for individuals and small businesses, insurers have asked the state to approve rate hikes of 8 to 32 percent for April 1. Patrick last month said the state Division of Insurance would review rate increases exceeding 4.8 percent as part of a broader effort to rein in health care expenses. If the insurers’ latest round of increases is rejected, it would mark the first time Massachusetts has capped health insurance rates.

Insurers say such a move would cause confusion in the marketplace, as they already have negotiated contracts with many individuals and small businesses at the new rates. Capping the rates would also result in immediate financial losses, insurers assert, forcing them to cut payments to health providers and threatening the viability of weaker hospitals.

Executives from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state’s largest health insurer, have asked state officials to delay their decision on rates. And the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, a trade group representing 11 other insurers in the state, has asked for time to let insurers propose cost-savings alternatives of their own.

“Rushing into this could be perceived as putting price controls on health costs rather than making decisions based on sound actuarial data,’’ said Blue Cross-Blue Shield vice president Jay McQuaide, who blamed the increase in premiums mostly on the rise in medical spending. “This would cause significant disruption in the providing of health services.’’

[AnOhioan]

1. But...but....mandates are supposed to bring down costs...right???

How come I am not surprised?

[golfguru]

16. Is existing Mass health plan pretty close to current HCR bills?

If yes, we have a good look into the future! And it is not good.
If no, there is hope.

[kenny blankenship]

2. They said forcing everyone to buy private for-profit insurance wd LOWER rates for all?!

They ALREADY had the highest rates in the country...

What's going on here?!

[Selatius]

3. Sooo...they imposed the new rates on their customers first. Now...they ask for permission to do it.

Anybody see something wrong here???

[jefferson_dem]

4. Here's your alternative.

Yay status quo!

Consumers in Illinois who lose their jobs and have no other option but to buy their own health insurance will get socked this year with premium increases of up to 60 percent, according to state records.

That group of consumers has been growing, as the recession has created more uninsured Americans looking for ways to protect themselves and their families.Now, Illinois consumers will get a glimpse into just how wide-ranging rate increases among individual health plans can be. The data, obtained by the Tribune, also provide a window into the overall trend of premium increases at large and small employers.

For the state's more than half-million consumers in individual health plans, base rates will go up from 8.5 percent to more than 60 percent, according to state data. Base rates do not take into consideration health status, gender, age, place of residence and length of a policy -- all factors that could raise premiums further.

The individual insurance market is relatively small compared with consumers who get their insurance through their employers, but it has become the fastest-growing group in this economy, in which about one in 10 are unemployed. The individual market also has spawned a national debate after a California health insurer raised premiums for this group by up to 40 percent, triggering probes by state regulators and the Obama administration.

<SNIP>

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-individual-health-insurance-premiums-mar04,0,223417.story

[kenny blankenship]

5. No, the alternative is Universal Health Care

And it's the ONLY alternative.

[jefferson_dem]

6. Really?

And how exactly do you plan on getting that passed right now? I look forward to hearing your plan.

[kenny blankenship]

7. Yes REALLY.

So your alternative to something good is to pass something CRIMINALLY BAD- "right now". You want to lock in a corporate rip-off scheme enforced by Federal agencies until the whole thing crashes and burns.

That sounds like the fierce urgency of "go fuck yourself America!"

[jefferson_dem]

8. Ok.

So you're opposed to the bill. Fine.

But don't offer some fantasyland alternative that only exists in your mind.

EDIT: I'll be happy for you once these reforms are enacted, even though you fail to see their benefits at the moment.

[golfguru]

18. You speak the truth....very harsh, but the truth! nt

[brentspeak]

9. The plan to get a strong public option (if not single-payer) passed:

Find a strong leader who doesn't take 'no' for an answer.

[karynnj]

14. The fact is that thePresident is not a dictator - that is not our form of government

The honest truth that some Senators and Congressmen, who favor single payer, have said is that it could not come close to passing because there are too many other Congressmen and Senators who are fundamentally ideologically against it. Give me a name of someone who would have been the strong leader that you want.

Name one serious Presidential candidate who said that it could be done and he/she would lead it.

What does it mean for the President not to take "no" for an answer. It is easy for a President to make it hard to pass something by threatening a veto, but he can not MAKE them pass anything. Do you get that he would need 60 votes for several votes in the Seanet to pass it? Did you listen to any of the hearings? There were Democrats arguing that they could not support the public option because it was seen as leading to single payer. No way do you get Lieberman, Lincoln, Conrad, Carper, Nelson,or Baucus - and that's no exhastive list. What power does a President have to make them do this? Before you say it, you could not pass single payer entirely through reconciliation - even if you could get 50 votes.

Now, I wish that Obama had taken a stronger role and back in August, used his eloquence and position to counter the tea party on this before more people were poisoned, but that is hind sight.

[golfguru]

17. Not JUST universal health care but with strict RATIONING!

That is the ONLY way health care costs will come down and be reasonable
for most people. Let's face the stark reality, the country simply can not
afford very expensive procedures for very sick folks to prolong their
life by a few weeks/months.

[brentspeak]

10. Also note how the insurance industry is pulling the obligatory sky-will-fall/economic blackmail card

"If you don't let us fleece the people, everyone will die!"

[jefferson_dem]

11. Ah...the "three dimensional chess" thingy in reverse, eh?

They are only raising premiums so people think we need reforms that they will benefit from, which is also why they are fighting against them. Crikey! Those crafty devils... :crazy:

[andym]

12. The article states that the governor want to cap increases at 4.8%-- that's good

but the insurers want a lot more. The Mass law gives the regulators the ultimate power to set rates.

I wish California had a law like Massachusett's where we could actually stop rate increases. Our insurers want a lot more (75%) than even the 32% for small business owners. But our regulators have no power to stop the increases.
See here
http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-02-26/news/17957301_1_rate-hikes-health-rates-rate-increases

I would also be happy with a federal law that gave regulators the power to set rates.

[jefferson_dem]

15. Reality-based perspective.

Thanks!

[andym]

13. In article, insurers claim cost increases appear to be due to increased provider expenses

I wonder if that is really true. If so, why? Greedy doctors and hospitals? Greedy pharma?
What's the breakdown of increased costs?

The findings of the Massachusetts' regulators hopefully will prove enlightening

Is the following really true?:

"Even as businesses and individuals feel the pinch of surging health costs, three of the four largest state health insurers last week posted financial reports showing operating losses for 2009."