In a press conference and an HHS report Thursday, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius criticized health insurance premium increases across the country, gaining widespread media attention including one broadcast report. The efforts are seen as another push to pass healthcare reform ahead of a bipartisan meeting between the White House and Republican congressmen on February 25. ABC World News (2/18, story 7, 2:40, Sawyer) called Sebelius' press conference "a broadside...at the huge rate increases exacted by some health insurance companies. The duel is on about what is fair profit and what is gouging." Sebelius said, "The five largest insurers in America have declared more than $12 billion worth of profits in 2009." But ABC pointed out, "The underlying message from Sebelius today seemed to be that insurance companies can afford to deal with rising costs, but some of the insurance companies she cited aren't exactly riding high."
On the front of its Business Day section, the New York Times (2/19, B1, Abelson) reports that "health insurers lately seem more afraid of Wall Street than of Washington." The Times notes that "the weak economy and the unrelenting rise in the cost of medical care make it increasingly difficult for companies to avoid substantial rate increases -- even if those increases provide fresh fodder for Democrats seeking to pass the now-stalled healthcare legislation in Congress."
According to the Washington Post (2/19, MacGillis, Goldstein), "The administration's attempt to focus attention on insurance comes during a moment of deep uncertainty over the fate of Congress's intense debate about the healthcare system." And "although Sebelius said insurers are taking excessive profits," AHIP head Karen Ignagni "countered that insurance premiums are responding to 'the growth of underlying medical costs' as hospitals, doctors and drug manufacturers have raised prices." Still, Sebelius and congressional Democrats "say the House and Senate legislation would solve the problem of healthier people leaving insurance pools."
"Sebelius said that rising premiums in states across the country are leaving customers with few options other than to pay the higher costs or drop their coverage," the Los Angeles Times (2/19, Helfand) notes. "A lot of these customers have no choice," Sebelius said.
The AP (2/19, Alonso-Zaldivar) calls the push for healthcare reform "bogged down," so the Obama Administration "has seized on" Anthem Blue Cross of California's "premium increases as Exhibit A to make his case for sweeping change before a bipartisan White House summit next week."
The Wall Street Journal (2/19, Johnson, subscription required) explains that the HHS report points to six states where health insurers are looking for double-digit price increases. One of those examples, a 56% increase requested by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan caused the company to feel unfairly attacked, as it is a non-profit.
A Blue Cross Blue Shield Michigan spokesman told the Detroit Free Press (2/19, Anstett) that "the failure of the Michigan Legislature to adopt state reforms that would require all insurance companies to accept all applicants, as Blue Cross must, is the reason Blue Cross lost $133 million last year on its individual policies."
The Detroit News (2/19, Hurst) also notes the Michigan increases, adding that "Sebelius said increases like those at Michigan's largest health insurance entity are outstripping inflation, and the nation's ever-rising cost of providing healthcare services."
Sebelius said, "Premium increases have left thousands of families that are already struggling during the economic downturn with an unpleasant choice between fewer benefits, higher premiums, or having no insurance at all. Hard-working families deserve better," CNN (2/19) reports. Politico (2/19, Marr), CongressDaily (2/18, subscription required), Time (2/19, Pickert), and Reuters (2/19, Richwine, Alexander) also covered the story.
