Rep. Courtney Report On National Insurance Rate Increases Represents An 'Out of Control' System

Press Release

Congressman Joe Courtney issued the following statement today following the release of a new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report on health insurance premium increases, including requested increases in Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington. The report comes shortly after Anthem Blue Cross announced plans to raise rates on its California customers by as much as 39 percent.

"Our health insurance system is broken and this is just another example of the need to fix it," stated Courtney. "I have met with many business leaders at Rotary and Chamber of Commerce meetings, and town, municipal and school officials, who are all feeling the burden of premium costs that are simply out of control."

In June 2009, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut issued a proposal to increase premium rates in their individual insurance plans of up to 32 percent. This unprecedented proposal impacted 55,000 families across the state.

Congressman Courtney strongly opposed this unprecedented increase, calling the proposed hike "unconscionable' and "devastating' to families and small businesses already struggling to survive in the midst of the economic downturn. At his urging, the Connecticut Insurance Commission ultimately reduced the amount of Anthem's increase to 12 to 22 percent starting in 2010.

"The story remains the same: if we want to rebuild and strengthen our economy and to give small businesses and families that ability to thrive once again, we need to address this health insurance crisis now. This will not fix itself."

Sandy Praeger of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, predicts that we will continue to "see rate increases of 20, 25, 30 percent," according to the report. Click here to download the full report.

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