Thousands of policy holders got a ray of hope as three  insurance giants of California agreed to delay their intended interest rate hikes for sixty days. This was due to the Insurance Commissioner of the state Mr. Dave Jones, who asked for some more time so that he could review the increase.

The three insuring giants of California namely Pacific Care, Anthem Blue Cross and Aetna were all unavailable for any comments after this decision which was very much in contrast to the one taken by the Blue Shield on Jan 15. The company was adamant to increase the rate of interest irrespective of the commissioner’s approval. The increase if implemented could total to a whopping 59 percent.

The increase comes in a backdrop of a massive economic downfall, the biggest one the country has witnessed since the great depression. This was the main reason of Mr. Jones to ask for more time to review the increase. He was recorded saying that though the policy holder would not enjoy the benefits for this extension to ensure conformation with the law but he will do anything and everything within his power to decide whether the rates proposed by Blue Shields are according to the law or not. And he added that if the increase is in non-compliance with the law the he will make sure that the law gets enforced.

The Blue Shield Company meanwhile is conducting an actual review. According to their spokesperson Mr. Tom Epstein the review will get completed before 1st march. He also added that is the independently conducted review confirms the proposed increase unreasonable then all their members will be refunded the difference to negate chances of any losses on their part.

Whatever Mr. David Jones said, the fact is that the powers of the commissioner to ban a increase is very much limited and can be exercised only if the insurer spends an amount less than 70 percent of the premium on expenses relating to healthcare.

Top News - Submitted by John Binz on Fri, 01/28/2011 - 12:29