It sounds like it cherry picking time again – run the algorithms and and cut the most unprofitable portions of the business, like all companies do but this business leaves people without healthcare when the pricing goes beyond what consumers can afford. There’s a comment from a podiatrist and his wife paying over 27k a year
for himself and his wife. The letter stated increases will come every 12 months and increment increases can occur anytime in between, so when they want more dollars out go the letters.
Individuals with individual policies are at stake too for being scrutinized for pre-existing conditions. In other words they are the group with the most algorithmic “scores” run to determine the potentially less profitable portion of the business. Changing to another carrier is risky as there might be something listed in the MIB files (Medical Insurance Bureau) that would be outside the eligibility algorithms created to determine if coverage will be offered.
It certainly appears that creating healthcare for everyone is not going in the same direction as the carriers. It appears you can make more money with fewer patients and again the formulas have been created to figure this out. I certainly hope that all the carriers have their “rainy day” or “reserves” in place to keep insolvency from occurring. We all remember the AIG story who’s reserves were non existent. We all know what shows on paper, but where is the money invested and how secure is it? With current economic conditions there are fewer that will be able to afford the higher prices and some will have to opt for plans that cover less. BD
California's largest for-profit health insurer is moving to dramatically raise rates for customers with individual policies, setting off a furor among policyholders and prompting state insurance regulators to investigate.
Anthem Blue Cross is telling many of its approximately 800,000 customers who buy individual coverage -- people not covered by group rates -- that its prices will go up March 1 and may be adjusted "more frequently" than its typical yearly increases.Many policyholders say the rate hikes are the largest they can remember, and they fear that subsequent premium growth will narrow their options -- leaving them to buy policies with higher deductibles and less coverage or putting health insurance out of reach altogether.
"I've never seen anything like this," said Mark Weiss, 63, a Century City podiatrist whose Anthem policy for himself and his wife will rise 35%. The couple's annual insurance bill will jump to $27,336 from $20,184.
Insurers are free to cherry-pick the healthiest customers in the lightly regulated individual market. They can raise rates at any time as long as they notify the state Department of Insurance and prove that they are spending at least 70% of premiums on medical care.
She and others voiced anger about the increases as Anthem's parent company, WellPoint Inc., sees big profits. Last week the company announced an eightfold increase in profit for the last three months of 2009, a surge attributed largely to the sale of subsidiaries.
Broker and insurance industry analysts said the California rate increases will leave individual policyholders with few good options: Anthem subscribers such as the Fellers can switch to a company plan with a higher deductible. Or they can try to switch insurers, a dicey proposition because carriers in the individual market can reject applicants who have preexisting medical conditions.
For those websites which make it difficult the consumer may find that calling the company or visiting their physical office location might be a better and faster way to obtain insurance quotes.
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