Blue Shield Backs Off On Rate Hike
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• Retreat follows criticism from consumer groups, state</p>
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• Says individual and family plan rates won’t change this year</p>
Insurance
Insurance news, investigations, and reform — auto, home, and health insurance rates, claims denials, and industry accountability.
Blue Shield Of Calif. Cancels Rate Hike
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<b>CEO Says Nonprofit Wants To Keep Coverage Affordable</b></p>
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Blue Shield of California said Wednesday it was withdrawing its plan to increase health insurance rates for individual policyholders in what would have been the third such rate hike since October.</p>
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The three hikes combined would have raised rates by as much as 87 percent for some of its 200,000 policyholders, according to the California Department of Insurance.</p>
Will HHS exceptions become the rule?
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<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2012" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/images_healthreform_2_0.jpg" style="width: 120px; height: 90px; float: right; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px;" width="120" height="90" />HHS’s head of insurance oversight Steve Larsen got heat from a hostile <a href="http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1202%3A3-15-11-qobamacare-why-the-need-for-waiversq&catid=35&Itemid=1">House committee this afternoon</a>, where he was asked why, if the federal health reform law is so great, is HHS granting waivers to its rules?</p>
Blue Shield 86.5% Rate Increase??????
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<img class=" size-full wp-image-2006" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/blueshieldsnakewht_0.jpg" style="width: 120px; height: 90px; " width="120" height="90" />The Los Angeles Times is <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-blue-shield-20110312,0,2694903.story">reporting </a>today that Blue Shield's premium hikes are hitting some policyholders with as much as an 86% premium increase. If this outrage doesn't get even cynical California legislators to act, nothing will. How can we afford insurance if an insurance company can raise rates at will by 86.5%!</p>
Anthem To Boost Deductibles On Some Individual Plans — Doing A Number On Health Policyholders
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<b>You soon may not be able to judge your cost for healthcare by the name on the PPO insurance plan. For example, the PPO Share 500 plan will have a $550 deductible. State regulators are looking into it.</b></p>
Pressure On To Merge State Agencies — Two Offices Oversee Health Insurance
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Debate is heating up over whether California should continue to be the only state with two agencies regulating health insurance.<br />
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The Department of Managed Health Care oversees health plans - mostly HMOs - that cover 21.6 million Californians. The Department of Insurance regulates most preferred provider and traditional indemnity plans, which cover 2.4 million state residents.<br />
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Cindy Ehnes: One Of A Kind
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<strong>Head of nation's only HMO watchdog looks for a change of scenery after seven years of spearheading regulatory action</strong><br />
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Seven years at the helm of the only HMO watchdog agency in the nation was enough for Cindy Ehnes. Monday was her last day.<br />
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Chief deputy director Edward Heidig - No. 2 at the California Department of Managed Health Care for the last four years - became interim director Tuesday. No permanent replacement appears likely while Gov. Jerry Brown wrestles with the $26.6 billion budget deficit.<br />
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Did Blue Cross Raise Your Deductible?
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<img class=" size-full wp-image-2002" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/doublecross_1.gif" style="width: 200px; height: 200px;" width="200" height="200" />David Lazarus' column in the <em>Los Angeles Times</em> (see below) reports that on May 1st, Blue Cross will dramatically increase the annual deductibles on individual health insurance policies, increase premiums, and make other changes to benefits like increasing co-pays.</p>
Why California Drivers Pay More For Gasoline
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<img class=" size-full wp-image-9077" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ba-gasprices0309_sfcg1299631850_part6.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 199px;" width="370" height="295" />California appears poised to win a dubious distinction - becoming the first state this year to pay an average of $4 for a gallon of regular gas.</p>
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<span id="articlebody">California's average gas price jumped 50 cents in the last month to hit $3.91 on Tuesday, according to an update from AAA of Northern California. That tops even Hawaii, which usually has America's priciest gas. The Aloha State currently pays $3.90 for regular. </span></p>
‘Archaic’ Agent Commissions Should Die In Health Reform, Group Says
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A consumer group is warning that “health insurance salespeople” are attempting to “rewrite the health reform law to guarantee broker income at the cost of increasing consumer premiums.”<br />
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The nonprofit consumer advocacy group, Consumer Watchdog, said in a statement that legislation backed by lobbyists for insurance brokers would “let” insurance companies pay commissions on individual and small-business policies without counting them as administrative costs under health reform.<br />
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California Insurer: Audit Backs 59% Rate Hike
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Blue Shield of California said an independent review of its proposed premium hikes -- totaling as high as 59% -- found that the rates are "reasonable [and] not excessive."<br />
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This means that some Blue Shield policyholders could see a substantial hike in their premiums when state regulators complete their own review.<br />
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