Insurance Space

The White House is continuing its pushback against health insurance rate hikes, asking insurers to put their rate increase requests online, as well as the actuarial data that supports the rate hikes.

“The current situation is simply unsustainable,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today after meeting at the White House with the CEOs of five major insurance companies and leaders from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Sebelius said she was prompted to call for the meeting “in part by rate increases announced around country and the input that I’ve had from people across America who are really frightened that they’re being priced out of the market, don’t know what’s coming next, want some information on what’s happening.”

The scope of a congressional investigation into health insurance rate hikes in California expanded Tuesday as lawmakers summoned the chief executives of four of the nation’s largest for-profit health insurers to testify about medical claims denied for individuals with pre-existing conditions.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce and its investigations subcommittee are targeting the practices of WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group, Humana Inc. and Aetna.

The companies provide insurance to a large share of the estimated 17 million Americans who buy individual insurance policies because they do not have health coverage through jobs.

President Barack Obama is trying to revive his stalled national health care overhaul by taking the fight to the private insurance companies.

Mr. Obama on Monday will propose giving U.S. officials the power to limit rate hikes by health insurance companies, in a last-ditch bid to salvage his signature issue.

The proposal would give the federal Health and Human Services Department – in conjunction with state authorities – the power to deny egregious premium increases, roll them back, or demand rebates for consumers, said a White House official, speaking Sunday on condition of anonymity because details have not yet been officially released.

Dramatic increases in health insurance rates aren’t limited to California, according to a report issued Thursday by the Obama administration that found insurers had asked for large rate hikes in at least six other states.

The report by the Department of Health and Human Services found, for example, that UnitedHealth, Tufts and Blue Cross requested rate increases of up to 16 percent in Rhode Island. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan sought to raise rates by as much as 56 percent. Increases were also reported in Maine, Washington, Oregon and Connecticut.

As the prospect of a major health care overhaul expires with a terminal case of filibuster, the last week provided a clear diagnosis of what we will get instead.

We have seen the future, and it looks like Anthem Blue Cross.

Last week Anthem, providing coverage to 800,000 individual buyers in California, announced rate increases for next year of as much as 39 percent.

That’s not a misprint, even if you couldn’t afford to get your eyes checked lately.

Nationwide Insurance Co. of Florida wants to raise residential property insurance prices by a statewide average of 10 percent.

The increase is needed primarily to beef up reserves to pay for non-hurricane weather damage, including sinkhole claims, Nationwide spokeswoman Nancy Smeltzer said Monday.

Nationwide, the state’’s fourth-biggest private insurer of homes, reduced rates by a statewide average of 20 percent last year after increasing them by an average of 54 percent.

“It’’s part of what we have to do to make sure we”re here for customers when they need us most,” Smeltzer said, adding that increased construction costs also are driving up the cost of claims. “It’’s the real cost of serving customers based in a very challenging market.”

HOUMA — Want to see how your insurance rates compare with other carriers? You can now access new figures provided by the Louisiana Department of Insurance.

“The rate guides provide premium quotes from top carriers of auto and homeowners insurance in the state,” Insurance Commissioner James Donelon said in a release.

You can access the figures at www.ldi.state.la.us. If you don’t have access to a computer, you can call the department at 1-800-259-5300 for information.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has asked the state Division of Insurance to initiate an administrative rate proceeding to review the new auto insurance rates of Premier Insurance Company.

Premier, a subsidiary of Travelers Insurance, filed new rates with the Division of Insurance, which allegedly discriminate against consumers based on homeownership, in violation of Massachusetts regulations. Premier’s new rating system, which went into effect on November 1, 2008, takes into consideration a variety of factors when determining what an individual consumer will pay for insurance.

Michigan’s insurance consumer advocate is asking the state to hold hearings on Allstate Insurance Co.’s auto insurance rates.

Melvin Butch Hollowell wants insurance commissioner Ken Ross to look into Allstate raising auto insurance rates after saying that Michigan’s drivers were among the safest in the country and had reduced accidents for several years in a row.

The newest rates the insurance company filed with the state — which went into effect July 28 — included increases of 5% to 7%.

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Jim Long has signed an order requiring a 16.1 percent reduction in private passenger auto rates and a 11.7 percent reduction in motorcycle liability rates, effective Jan. 1.

“After listening to testimony from both sides during the rate hearings in July and August, I found that the Rate Bureau’s request for a 12.9 percent increase just wasn’t warranted,” Long said. “It’s the largest increase they’ve requested in almost 15 years. I was surprised by the request, especially since last year the Bureau filed for no change.”