Health insurance companies that want to increase the cost of their premiums by 10 percent or higher will now have to justify those proposed rate hikes, the Obama administration announced today.
Rate increases became a sore political point since earlier this year, when the White House seized on an astounding 39 percent hike by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of California to justify the health care bill.
Premium increases have been most prominent in the individual and small business market, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today, and the new rules will create more transparency for consumers.
Giving consumers “options for other possibilities I think is a huge step forward because we’re really talking about the small group market and individual market where people don’t have sophisticated purchasing teams. They often don’t know what their choices are. They’re really at the mercy of somebody who is selling them a product,” Sebelius said today.
Full story: Health Insurers to Report Premium Rate Hikes Above 10 percent