It is time to get rid of Blue Cross and other health care insurance companies

Other insurers raising health care rates too

Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, February 11, 2010

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Anthem Blue Cross customers may be hopping mad about their rate hikes, but members of other health insurers say they're also getting hit with sky-high increases.

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John McClave of San Francisco opened his mail this week to learn Health Net had jacked up his monthly premium from $345 to $462 on March 1 - a nearly 34 percent increase. This was on top of an 18 percent increase he received last year.

"I do intend to shop around, but with others raising their rates at the same time I am not too optimistic," said McClave, 57, a freelance marketing and communications consultant.

Anthem Blue Cross, headquartered in Woodland Hills (Los Angeles County), has come under fire this week after it told thousands of individual policyholders their premiums would increase on March 1 by as much as 39 percent and, in some cases, more. Consumers say other carriers, including Health Net and Aetna, are also raising rates.

Officials target hikes

The Anthem rate hikes have become a talking point for the Obama administration, with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius demanding the insurer justify the hikes. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce and its Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations are also looking into the issue.

California legislators and regulators have announced probes, with Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, scheduling a hearing Feb. 23 to examine not only Anthem's proposed increases, but also those imposed by other health insurance companies.

On Wednesday, Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said he plans to introduce legislation to require health insurers to disclose their reasons for raising rates and for denying coverage to applicants.

Leno, who supports a single-payer health system in the state, said he doesn't buy Anthem's excuse that higher medical costs and a shrinking membership pool made the increases necessary.

Anthem declined to comment Wednesday.

Attention welcomed

Consumers said they appreciate the additional scrutiny and hope it will produce change.

When Health Net increased Britton Jackson's coverage by 49 percent last year, the 40-year-old San Francisco real estate agent said she felt isolated in her frustration. "I think people are paying so much more attention to it now and realizing they're not alone," she said.

Small businesses are also getting walloped. Carmel-Monterey Travel in Monterey switched last year from Anthem to Aetna to save money - only to be hit this week with news of a 40 percent rate hike for the eight-member group.

Health Net declined to discuss the company's rates, and Aetna officials did not return a call for comment.

Some Anthem consumers reported even higher rate increases than the 39 percent cited. Anthem, which is owned by Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. and is the state's largest for-profit insurer, has declined to say how many policyholders are affected or how high the company raised rates.

Bay Area resident Mary Deen said Anthem Blue Cross raised her rates from $134 a month last year to $263 a month - a 96 percent increase. Deen, who is self-employed, tried to get answers from the company but was given the generic excuse of higher medical costs. "It doesn't seem fair my increase is so high and I've never filed a claim," she said.

Therapists' rates cut

California physical, occupational and speech therapists are also taking issue with Anthem. The therapists said the insurer cut their reimbursement rates by 30 to 50 percent on Feb. 1.

Chris Chorak, a physical therapist and owner of Presidio Sport & Medicine in San Francisco, said she refused to agree to the new rates, even though about 30 percent of her patients are covered by Anthem. She said she couldn't afford to stay open under the new pricing structure.

Anthem officials said the company had to adjust its physical therapy reimbursement rates to "standardize the pricing structure and to help contain escalating health care costs."

E-mail Victoria Colliver at vcolliver@sfchronicle.com.



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