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Blue Shield of California has abandoned a push to raise health care premiums starting May 1 for individual and family members in the wake of bad publicity over the hikes.
The San Francisco insurer infuriated many individual policyholders by increasing rates in October, again in January and then again this spring. The highest cumulative increases, had they all gone into effect, would have been nearly 87 percent for some customers.
The San Francisco insurer infuriated many individual policyholders by increasing rates in October, again in January and then again this spring. The highest cumulative increases, had they all gone into effect, would have been nearly 87 percent for some customers.
The decision means the next possible rate hike for many of Blue Shield's 340,000 individual and family policyholders would be in January. Individual members' rates could go up earlier if they move to a new region, add a family member or move into a higher five-year age group.
Other insurers have also proposed hikes. Last month, Anthem Blue Cross slapped some of its individual customers with double-digit increases. That came just a year after the company reignited the debate over health care reform when it attempted to raise rates by as much as 39 percent.
"We wanted to change the conversation to what's driving premium increases, and we're willing to take the financial risk to absorb this $35 (million) to $40 million in revenue we're going to lose," said Tom Epstein, a Blue Shield vice president and spokesman, referring to the cost of withdrawing the May 1 increase.
"There's no question the year-after-year, double-digit increases that have been inflicted upon California consumers and California businesses are unsustainable," Jones said in a conference call with reporters. "My hope is the other insurers will note what Blue Shield has done and act accordingly."
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