Grassley Comment on Wellmark Response to His Questions About Rate Increase

Press Release

Senator Chuck Grassley made the following comment about the response he received from Wellmark to his February 23 inquiry about the insurer's rate increase. A copy of Grassley's original request follows the statement.

"Two weeks ago, I asked Wellmark a series of questions in a letter to the CEO, after the insurance company announced its big rate increase for Iowans. I'm glad my letter got more information for consumers on the rate increase. It also seems to have gotten the attention of the Governor, who now has temporarily reversed his own insurance commissioner. The delay and independent review might be coming a little late, but we'll all have extra time to look at the rate increase more closely.

"I got an initial response from Wellmark on Friday, and it may be along the lines of what the independent actuary finds in the next 30 days. The response provides some answers, but I still have strong concerns about the level of increase, especially given Wellmark's significant reserves. This deserves more investigation, along with other things.

"Health care costs are increasing at an unsustainable rate, especially for people buying insurance on their own. What's worse, the pending health care legislation that could be pushed through Congress in the next three weeks would make health insurance premiums go up even more than they are going up already. That's according to the Congressional Budget Office. On top of that, the health care bills passed by the House and Senate, and now the President's version of those bills, would give $400 billion in direct payments to the insurance industry. That's money for insurance payments taken from tax increases and Medicare cuts. The insurance industry benefits from this bill becoming law because it mandates that every American buy health insurance and it creates a new entitlement program that pays subsidies directly to insurance companies to buy health insurance, two things President Obama opposed when he was a candidate for office. The pending health care legislation fails to take on rising health care costs and premiums, and that's a major reason why Congress should start fresh, and get quickly to work on health care reforms where there's broad-based agreement to drive down costs for individuals, families and employers, and impose stronger rules on insurance practices and, by doing so, make coverage more accessible."

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