Health insurance hikes stun small businesses

Victoria Colliver,
San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, February 26, 2010

While Anthem Blue Cross has been taking the heat for proposing rate increases of up to 39 percent on individual consumers, other health insurers have stunned some small businesses with hikes that in some cases exceed 75 percent.

Tom Simmons, president of an Oakland design and consulting firm with four employees, said he had just read about the Anthem increases when he opened a letter from his insurer, Blue Shield of California, informing him his monthly family premium would go up to $1,596 a month from $908, a nearly 76 percent increase.

"This industry is getting out of control. It makes me fearful of future years and what could become of things if something doesn't change," said Simmons, whose business health insurance policy also covers his family of three.

(Original here.)