A consumer watchdog group filed a lawsuit Monday against WellPoint’s California subsidiary on behalf of policyholders, claiming
they were pushed to take coverage with fewer benefits and higher deductibles.
Amid attacks from Democrats over high executive salaries, Angela Braly testified in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday that big
insurance-premium increases are
the result of growing price tags for hospital care and pharmaceuticals.
California lawmakers grilled Anthem Blue Cross executives on Tuesday about their plan to boost individual insurance premiums
by as much as 39 percent, only to hear them blame the economy and a broken health care system.
Executives are scheduled to testify Tuesday before a California legislative committee and on Wednesday before a U.S. House
of Representatives committee about big premium increases.
California’s insurance regulator said Monday his office has found more than 700 violations by the state’s largest for-profit
health insurer, a subsidiary of Indianapolis-based WellPoint.
Insurers WellPoint Inc. and others would get a delay in taxes on premiums and high-cost medical benefits, along with additional
funding for expanding Medicaid, under a White House proposal
Obama, seeking to break an impasse over health-care legislation, proposes a plan that includes the first Medicare tax on unearned
income such as capital gains and higher fees on drugmakers.
President Obama’s latest push for a health care overhaul could drive health plans around the country into insolvency, according
to an insurance trade group.
At the heart of the debate is the question of what should be a fair profit for health insurers. WellPoint CEO Angela Braly
will likely be grilled on the issue when she appears at a Congressional hearing Wednesday.
President Obama will release a proposal to restart the health-care debate before a bipartisan White House meeting on Feb.
25, one day after WellPoint officials testify before Congress about steep rate increases.
The furor over WellPoint Inc.’s premium hikes have migrated from California to Indiana, where state lawmakers held a
high-profile hearing.
Congressman Andre Carson will make remarks Thursday during a public chastising of Indianapolis-based health insurer for 21-percent rate
hike on individuals.
State House insurance committee chair grills executives about WellPoint’s 21-percent premium increase for individual policyholders
in Indiana.
Three WellPoint executives will be on hand Wednesday morning to answer questions about premium increases on its individual
policies, which have risen as high as 39 percent this year.
The planned rate increase, which state officials estimated would affect about 700,000 customers, averaged 25 percent and would have been as high as 39 percent for some.
Anthem has declined to say how many of its 800,000 individual policyholders in California are being affected by the hike.
But Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius demanded specifics in a sternly worded letter.
WellPoint Inc. chief financial officer Wayne DeVeydt said President Obama’s Federal Trade Commission is unlikely to approve
mergers among the biggest insurers.
WellPoint and other health insurers were profitable in 2009, but the lingering unemployment problem is dampening the outlook
for this year.
Doctors are pushing again to strengthen their hands in contract negotiations with health insurers, especially market leader
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
The long-term outlook for health care reform is uncertain, but many analysts are expecting big health insurers like Indianapolis-based
WellPoint to benefit in 2010.
