Posts Tagged ‘ WellPoint ’

Fox Business Takes On WellPoint…in case you missed it

March 31st, 2010. By AbiK

“Bad public relations move at a very bad time…” Check it out:

Tags: Fox Business News, health insurance, WellPoint
Posted in Insurance | No Comments »

Shopping the best Health Insurance deal? Maybe you can’t

February 26th, 2010. By AbiK

On the heels of posting about the recent WellPoint/Anthem health insurance rate hikes, an American Medical Association (AMA) report on competition in the health insurance industry came out this week.

Guess what? AMA President Dr. J. James Rohack summed it up as: “The near total collapse of competitive and dynamic health insurance markets has not helped patients. As demonstrated by proposed rate hikes in California and other states, health insurers have not shown greater efficiency and lower health care costs. Instead patient premiums, deductibles and co-payments have soared without an increase in benefits in these increasingly consolidated markets.”

The report, Competition in Health Insurance: A Comprehensive Study of US Markets, looked at data from 43 states. Interestingly, in 24 of the states, the two largest insurers had a combined market share of 70% or more. Not a consumer packaged goods company out there that wouldn’t love to be sitting in that position.

Also according to the report:

• In 54% of the metro markets, at least one insurer had a market share of 50% or more
• In 92% of metro markets, at least one insurer had a 30% or more market share

The best quote from the Rohack news release is this though—in reference to the lack of competition within the health insurance industry—it “is clearly not in the best economic interest of patients”.

No kidding.

Tags: Anthem Blue Cross, health insurance, WellPoint
Posted in Drugs/Medical | No Comments »

WellPoint, Anthem Blue Cross rate hikes: Bloodless Economics?

February 16th, 2010. By Hunter West

The mind-boggling increase in healthcare premiums promoted to policyholders of WellPoint Inc. and its subsidiary, Anthem Blue Cross comes down to a central question, according to a story today in the New York Times… 

Is this the bloodless economics of risk, or a corporate culture of greed? 

In Los Angeles Bernhard Punzet opened up his envelope from Anthem Blue Cross and saw that Anthem intended to increase his insurance premiums by 34 percent. His partner’s would rise by 36 percent. 

Joshua Needle, a trial lawyer in Santa Monica, got a similar shock when he saw that Anthem intended to increase his premium by 33 percent.  “I have no problem with profits,” he said in comments published this morning in the New York Times, “but they’re maximizing profits without any concern that they have a captive audience.” 

He is not alone. About 700,000 Anthem Blue Cross clients are reeling with the news that they may be facing increases averaging 25 percent. That’s the average. A full 25 percent of policyholders are facing premium increases of anywhere from 35 to 39 percent. 

That’s four times the rate of medical inflation. 

Needless to say, consumers are screaming bloody murder, while advocates of public healthcare are using the issue as fodder for a renewed push behind President Obama’s universal health care reform. 

The increase has been delayed by two months, at the request of the insurance commissioner in California, in order Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Anthem Blue Cross, health insurance, WellPoint
Posted in Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues, Insurance | 1 Comment »