Sebelius: Reform needed to fight insurance hikes
Big, dominant insurance companies in Michigan and five other states continue to seek large rate hikes, a sign that the U.S. health insurance system is broken and needs reform, the nation’s health chief said today.
Citing a 56% rate hike that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan sought last year for non-Medicare customers who buy their own insurance, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said big increases sought “highlight the need to address comprehensive health reform.” She spoke in a media briefing from her Bethesda, Md.
The rate hike Sebelius quotes was what the insurer sought, not what it got. Michigan Insurance Commissioner Ken Ross pared back the Blue Cross request last year, approving a 22% increase for 200,000 people ages 18-to-64.
Blue Cross spokesman Andy Hetzel said Sebelius’ failure to note the actual rate hike, not the one the company sought, was “unfortunate and wasn’t really accurate.”
He said the failure of the Michigan Legislature to adopt state reforms that would require all insurance companies to accept all applicants, as Blue Cross must, is the reason Blue Cross lost $133 million last year on its individual policies. Because the insurer has higher costs covering people with pre-existing conditions, “it creates a very unhealthy pool that is financially challenging to cover.”
Related posts:
- Insurance rate hikes attract federal scrutiny
- People are ‘Frightened’ by Insurance Rate Hikes
- Health plans may have to submit rate hikes to regulators
- Health Insurance is Expensive as Health care
- Individual Health Insurance Consumers Left With Few Options
Tags: Health insurance, Insurance, insurance reform