business
Blue Shield agrees to delay rate increase
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 14, 2011
After a few weeks of declining to agree to California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones' request to delay its rate increase, Blue Shield of California conceded Feb. 1. The health plan agreed to put off its most recent rate increase, set to kick in March 1, for at least 60 days.
The company previously announced that it would ask an independent actuary to review its rate increase filing to ensure that it would comply with state law.
With the pending hike, some policyholders were set to see a cumulative increase of 59% over the last year. Anthem Blue Cross of California, Aetna and UnitedHealth Group subsidiary PacifiCare were asked to delay their pending increases to allow time for state review. The companies agreed to do so.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/02/14/bibf0214.htm.