November 17, 2010

 

 

From The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations 
Contact Susan Kniep, President                                                                                      

Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032

 

 

To:  The State Department of Insurance cid.ca@ct.gov

 

 

 

November 17, 2010 Public Hearing

State Department of Insurance

153 Market St. (Old GFox Building), 7th Floor, Rm 701

http://www.ct.gov/cid/lib/cid/Public_Hearing_-_Docket_Number_LH_10-159_Anthem_Blue_Cross_Blue_Shield.pdf

The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations urges you to reject the substantial rate hike proposed by Anthem Insurance, to require that all insurance rate increases be subject to a Public Hearing prior to any action or implementation by any state agency, and to empanel a committee to study and ultimately reduce the substantial healthcare costs now passed on to Connecticut taxpayers which exceeded $5 billion in 2009 (see chart below). 

 

The intent of healthcare reform was to provide Americans with access to affordable healthcare.  The 47 percent rate hike granted to Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut on its Tonik plans sold to new individual customers will price many who have to pay for their own health insurance out of the market.

 

Yet, many Connecticut residents, who can’t afford healthcare for themselves or their families are paying through their tax dollars for a lucrative healthcare system for others.  This was revealed in 2009 when the Federation learned that nearly $5 billion was incorporated in the State budget for healthcare costs for public sector employees, prisoners, Medicaid recipients and others.  

 

Prior to healthcare reform, Anthem and other insurance carriers in Connecticut had sought and received substantial premium increases.

 

In February of this year, it was reported that health insurance premiums for individual medical plans jumped in price by an average of more than 20 percent this year in Connecticut which followed hikes of 16.7 percent and 11.3 percent in the two previous years.  These hikes applied to plans purchased by individual customers on their own and not through employers or other groups, Medicare, Medicaid or a state program.  These rate hikes push more Americans into the ranks of the  approximatley 50 million uninsured. 

 

On July 8, 2009 newspapers reported that State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal had joined with others to protest the request of Anthem  Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut to the State Insurance Department for a 22%  to 30% rate increase.  Attorney  Blumenthal not only denounced the size of the increase but stated “Equally unconscionable is (the) proposed effective date of Oct. 1, giving consumers less than three months to find less expensive, viable alternatives.”  Newspapers also reported that “According to company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, WellPoint, Anthem’s Indianapolis-based parent company, reported net income of $580.4 million in the first quarter of 2009 and recorded total assets of $49.4 billion. “The rate increase is particularly concerning given that Angela Braly, CEO of Anthem’s parent company, Wellpoint, received over $9.8 million in compensation in 2008.

More than a year later, Anthem is back in 2010 looking for more money, and again Attorney Blumenthal has taken issue with the rate hikes as proposed by Anthem.  According to Attorney Blumenthal “the insurance department has failed to weigh certain factors when judging rate requests like medical trends, insurance expenses and profits, administrative costs, and the impact on potential policyholders” and  “Anthem, in its filing, refused to provide information on its medical loss ratio, or the percentage of premiums it spends on medical care”.

 

The Federation encourages those elected and appointed Connecticut government officials who ultimately impose these rate hikes on Connecticut consumers to go back to the drawing board, demand the information from Anthem necessary to make an informed decision, reject these excessive premium increases, and more importantly, empanel a committee to study why Connecticut taxpayers are paying $5 billion for healthcare costs in Connecticut as depicted in the following chart. 

 

Suggestions would include – increasing the cost of premiums for public sector employees and retirees, presenting prisoners with a bill for their healthcare costs and/or attaching their assets when they enter prison, and more.

 

The following information was provided to the Federation in 2009, by Nancy Wyman, for whom we then and continue to compliment for the efficiency of her staff when replying to requests.  The Federation had asked for and received information on what State taxpayer paid for healthcare in 2009 which totaled over $5 billion, as illustrated in the chart below…..