Rates baffle consumers, especially the self-insured

Jul 13

By Guy Boulton of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: July 11, 2010 |(156) Comments

Over the past six years, Dan Musickant and Lucia Lozano, a husband-and-wife team operating a consulting business, have raised the deductible on their health insurance from $2,500 initially to $10,000 to help keep the cost in check.

Their premiums still rose 70%, to $4,716 a year for the family of three. And the last increase was the steepest of all: 27%.

“What in 2009 took place that they needed to raise the premium 27%?” Musickant asked.

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Waiting For the Reforms–U.S. Health Care Gets Failing Grades

Jul 10


While we await the hoped for improvements in the health care reforms, the latest news about the irrational, fragmented and profit driven American health care system is not good.

In a report released last month by the respected Commonwealth Fund, the United States, which spends twice as much money on health care than other advanced nations, ranks lower than all of them on the quality, efficiency and the cost of care for their citizens.

Most important, the care given and available in these countries is more equitable than in the U.S. The disparity in the care available here for more affluent whites, compared to the poor, blacks and Hispanics, is too obvious. There are no uninsured in the countries cited.

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Insurer Response Remains Key Story To Watch

Jun 30

by Dan Diamond, California Healthline Contributing Editor

However, policymakers and private payers’ ongoing wrangling about reform remains the long-term narrative to watch, with the insurance industry’s business model — and the success of the overhaul — at stake. Beginning last year, the Obama administration has framed the health care overhaul as “insurance reform,” painting insurers as profiteers and arguing that the overhaul would rein in payers’ inappropriate behavior.

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Appeals Panel Overturns Mass. Division’s Rejection of Harvard Pilgrim’s Premium Increases

Jun 29

An appeals panel of the Massachusetts Division of Insurance overturned the division’s April 1 rejection of premium rate increases on small businesses and individuals sought by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

Harvard Pilgrim has shown its cost-containment programs, documented its cost savings and shown its programs are “adequate in organizational structure, commitment by senior staff, scale, effectiveness and responsiveness,” the agency decision said.

Harvard Pilgrim is pleased with the division’s presiding officers’ decision and looks forward to working with the administration to try to make health care affordable for its customers, said Sharon Torgerson, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit Harvard Pilgrim, in an e-mail.

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Recent Premium Increases Imposed by Insurers Averaged 20% for People Who Buy Their Own Health Insurance, Kaiser Survey Finds

Jun 27

Recent Premium Increases Imposed by Insurers Averaged 20% for People Who Buy Their Own Health Insurance, Kaiser Survey Finds

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

People who buy their own insurance report that their insurers most recently requested premium increases averaging 20 percent, according to a new Kaiser survey examining the experiences and views of people who buy health coverage in the non-group or individual market.

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