Calif. insurer's rate increases draw attention of federal government

By Alec MacGillis
WashPost
Monday, February 8, 2010

President Obama's secretary of health and human services fired off a sharply worded letter to a California insurer Monday, demanding to know why it is raising rates for individual policyholders by as much as 39 percent.

The unusual salvo offers a reminder that, even as health-care legislation lies in limbo in Washington, the battle over surging health care costs continues in other venues.

Anthem Blue Cross of California sent out notices earlier this month to many of its roughly 800,000 holders of individual policies, informing them that the costs of their plans would sharply increase to cover rising health-care costs. The increases do not affect employer-provided plans in the state.

The letters set off a furor among many Anthem policyholders, prompting California insurance commissioner Steve Poizner, who is running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, to say that his department was investigating the increases.

(More here.)