Cracking Down on Health Insurance Companies

[Dave020]

Their title, not mine.

Cracking Down on Insurance Companies, Protecting Consumers | HealthCare.gov

 

[taterpeeler]

Whoopie Do Do ..... what are they gonna do? stomp their foot 3 times and make the magic rate increase witch vanish?

 

[STIBROKER]

Come on....we are talking about Trustmark.........

 

[somarco]

How long before this thing blows up?

Gas prices locally jumped 12% in 3 days. Why doesn't the Dept. of Energy do something about this?

Apparently Shebullshits at HHS is the only one with balls.

 

[b61mack]

I'm shocked, their is gambling going on at ricks place.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I'm actually a fan - sorry. But I am. Health care costs have slowed but last year rose only 4%.

So it's kinda tough for some of these carriers to impose 10%+ rate increase "citing rising medical costs." Ok - medical costs rose 4% - where's your 13% coming from?

People say there are more factors but as I stay in this business longer and longer, what exactly would those factors be? I've personally seen some carrier impose 15% to 25% annual increases as they are "shocked" by recently claims history.

An argument is these companies should be able to do what they want. If their customers don't like it - cancel. That's a naive view since most people cannot cancel due to health conditions which also means they don't qualify for PCIP since they're currently insured.

 

[Yagents]

Too many ways for me to interpret this article title.

HHS Fingers Another Life Insurer for Rate Hikes Under ACA Authority | LifeHealthPro
HHS Fingers Another Life Insurer for Rate Hikes Under ACA Authority

 

[somarco]

it's kinda tough for some of these carriers to impose 10%+ rate increase "citing rising medical costs." Ok - medical costs rose 4% - where's your 13% coming from?

Utilization.

Health care costs to premiums is not a linear progression, but try telling that to HHS Shebullshits.

If the cost of health care nationally is 4% that does not mean it is 4% everywhere for every item. There are variances by state and service.

There are also variances by carrier. Some carriers do a better job of managing their block than others.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I'll disagree. Carriers have detailed utilization stats which is how pricing is set. What we're discussing is carriers no longer being able to lowball new business rates and count on jacking everything in subsequent years.

I guess we'll be bidding carriers adieu who can't get their ducks in a row. My response? Buh bye. I think a thorough review over a 10% increase is absolutely justified and you don't see many carriers screaming. In fact, check out stock and profit figures from the largest carriers. The "also ran" carriers are the only ones hurting over this. Again - buh bye.

 

[Ann H]

Utilization.

Health care costs to premiums is not a linear progression, but try telling that to HHS Shebullshits.

If the cost of health care nationally is 4% that does not mean it is 4% everywhere for every item. There are variances by state and service.

There are also variances by carrier. Some carriers do a better job of managing their block than others.

I agree with you on the issues of utilization, variances by state, service and carrier. For instance, the overall cost of healthcare may rise 4%, but prescriptions may rise 20%, so a benefit plan with rich Rx benefits gets hit harder. Benefit plans with low deductibles have higher utilization. However, I can't say that I disagree with the idea of at least reviewing rate hikes over 10% to see if they are justified. (If only HHS was run by someone who thought the word "justified" was something other than a personal opinion.) You know, carriers would be smarter to hand out 9.8% rate increases consecutively while amending the benefits that encourage higher utilization. Well, until 2014 anyway, when the minimum benefit requirements are so rich and guaranteed issue that the word "utilization" will mean "skyrocketing rates".