10%+ Increases Will Now Be "reviewed"

dgoldenz

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Feds fire warning shot to health insurers – The Chart - CNN.com Blogs

The process will determine which rate hikes are “unreasonable,” a tricky definition since “a 10 percent increase by a company that’s not had a rate increase in five years and is looking at a narrow profit margin, is not necessarily the same as a company that’s raised rates three years in a row and is looking at fat profits,” Sebelius said. “We decided we would start somewhere and we went with 10 percent, not as a definition of unreasonable, but as a figure that would bring scrutiny.”
 
In the legislation that was passed, any carrier found to have unreasonable rate increases can be excluded from the exchanges.

Also, starting I believe in 2012, all carriers must post their rate increase history on their website.
 
They should just limit profits to a certain percentage amount like 5%. This method will put them out of business as they can't control medical costs and utilization.

Public option, non profits, here we come......the dems goal all along
 
Carefirst in MD is non-profit and most of their plans capped RX at $500 to $1,500. Nothing special there. Nothing special about their rates or UW either.
 
These people are utterly clueless about the way the insurance business works.

For crying out loud, they already have protection against "unreasonable" increases - it's called MLR. If they don't pay out enough in claims, people get refunds. Scheez.
 
These people are utterly clueless about the way the insurance business works.

For crying out loud, they already have protection against "unreasonable" increases - it's called MLR. If they don't pay out enough in claims, people get refunds. Scheez.

I do not believe that the MLR's will protect against "unreasonable increases." The MLR's are designed to keep the administrative costs to a 15% or 20% of premium. If a carrier increases rates by a significant amount, for example 40%, it may or may not be unreasonable. But as long as the adminsitrative cost is under the 15% or 20% the MLR is not violated.
 
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