Editorial: Reform Law Could Tackle Insurer Rate Increases
"Blue Shield of California has levied three rate increases in rapid succession that could raise some premiums as much as 59%," a Los Angeles Times editorial states. The editorial continues that this means "Blue Shield is attracting fewer healthy customers for its individual plans, leaving fewer people to shoulder the rising burdens." The health care reform law can address this issue "by gathering individual policyholders into one big group through new statewide exchanges that can bargain for lower rates, and by requiring everyone to obtain coverage," the Times states.
- "Blue Shield's Blues" (Los Angeles Times, 1/12).