Do you think the recently announced health insurance rate increases will affect public support for health care reform?
Anthem Blue Cross recently informed many of its approximately 800,000 individual policyholders that premiums would increase by as much as 39% starting March 1. (Murphy/Alonzo-Zaldivar, AP/Ventura County Star, 2/12). The insurer also told members that it might start adjusting premiums more often than once a year (California Healthline, 2/10). The parent company of Anthem Blue Cross is blaming the California insurer's rate increases on a range of issues, from the bad economy to the aging population.
Victoria Colliver reported Thursday in the San Francisco Chronicle that Anthem Blue Cross is not the only company raising rates for individual policyholders. Members of other health insurers say they've also received notice of rate hikes. Companies in four other states have announced increases as well.
The Administration has pointed to the Anthem increase as further evidence of why health reform efforts in Congress should continue.
Do you think the recently announced health insurance rate increases will affect public support for health care reform?
Should a public health insurance plan be offered as part of national health care reform legislation?
The House and Senate health care reform bills each are around 2,000 pages long. The public health insurance option fills less than 15 pages in each bill, but is making headlines and stirring heated debate between Democrats and Republicans, and among Democrats in both chambers.
In both the House and Senate versions, the so-called "public option" is a proposed health insurance plan offered by the U.S. federal government. The idea is that if a government-run option were offered to compete with private insurers, it could help keep costs in check and ensure quality. It would compete with similar private insurance plans in a newly-created Health Insurance Exchange or marketplace, from which individuals, families and small businesses could buy health insurance that meets a minimum federal standard. Those covered by other employer plans or state insurance plans such as Medicare would not be eligible for coverage from the exchange and could not obtain this form of federal health insurance. The federal government's health insurance plan would be financed by premiums with no subsidy from the government. The Senate version would allow states to opt out of the federal program.
Should a public health insurance plan be offered as part of national health care reform legislation?
Resources:
The Kaiser Family Foundation's Side-By-Side Comparison of Major Health Care Reform Proposals
Pro-Publica's ongoing coverage
Forum with Michael Krasny: Senate Committee Passes Health Care Bill (Oct. 14, 2009)
The California Report: The Future of Insurance Age Rating (Oct. 27, 2009)