Fed, State Vow To Push Back On Blue Shield Hike
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones are vowing to push back against massive health insurance rate hikes proposed by Blue Shield.
Some Blue Shield individual policyholders would pay 59 percent more in premiums, cumulatively over three hikes since Oct. 1.
On average, a 30 percent cumulative increase will affect nearly 200,000 policies.
Jones said in a statement Thursday that he will call for a 60-day delay in the implementation of the rate increases, which are slated to go into effect March 1.
In a statement, Sebelius says she's ready to assist California, and that rate increases "without public scrutiny" would be the wave of the future if federal health care reform were repealed.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
