Independence Blue Cross (IBC) has filed for a rate increase of up to 52% for the three insurance programs it offers to individuals in what the industry calls the “non-group market.”
These shocking increases point to the urgency of creating a public health insurance plan to compete with private insurance. Senator Specter is inching toward support of such a plan. Click here to call him in support of a public health insurance plan.
Lance Haver and I did a press conference about these rate increases yesterday. You can see an excerpt at http://tinyurl.com/obr7ns.
IBC is seeking rate increases for three “non-group” insurance programs that are purchased by individuals not by businesses or other groups for their employees and members.
The QCC Personal Choice Plan which insures about 16,492 people would see an average rate increase for families ranging from 16.2% to 50.2%. If the insurance holder is under the age 29, the annual cost for a family would rise $2,243.88 or 39.4% for the standard plan. For insurance holders 30 to 39, the annual cost for a family would rise $2,824,68 or 41.5%. This is for insurance with a $1000 in-network deductible and that only pays 80% of costs up to a $4000 maximum. Rate increases for the premium plan, which has a lower deductible and which pays 100% of most costs, are even steeper. If the insurance holder is up to age 29, the annual cost for a family would rise $4,708.44 or 48.6%. For insurance holders 30 to 39, the annual cost for a family would rise $5,904.60 or 52%.
The Basic Blue Cross Hospital Program, which insures 2,800 people would see an average rate increase of 24.55%. The annual cost for a family would increase by $3658.80 for insurance with no deductible and by $2438.40 for insurance with a $500 deductible.
The Special Care Hospital Program which insures 6,200 people will have rate increases of 27.8%. The annual cost for a family would increase by $600. Special care is a “limited-benefit” program for people with low-incomes. A family of 3 must have an income of $36,000 or less to be eligible for special care. It covers only four doctor office visits a year, excludes treatments for pre-existing conditions for a year, does not offer prescription drug benefits, and covers only 21 days of hospitalization.
These astounding rate increases show us why we should support the Obama / Health Care For American Now plan to give everyone a choice between private health insurance and a public health insurance plan.
The lovely idea that animates social insurance—that we come together to share the risk of bad things happening to us—has long been rejected by the health insurance industry.
While the Blues in Pennsylvania must offer everyone insurance to those left out of a group—individuals whose employers do not offer health insurance or have lost their job and the self-employed—they are under no obligation to offer it at rates people can afford. IBC’s own estimates suggest that 20 to 25% of the people they cover under these plans will drop them. And this is happening at a time when more and more people need these plans because employers are dropping health insurance and unemployment is rising.
It may be that providing insurance to individuals is more costly than providing it to employees of a large business, both because administrative costs are higher and because people in the “non-group” tend to be older and less healthy.
But we have to fight to restore the idea of social insurance, that is, of widely sharing risk among all of us. That is particularly in providing health care, because we all have a fundamental right to health care. That means fighting for a public health insurance option, which will give us all a choice between private health insurance and a new public health insurance plan.