Feds to Insurers: Don't Blame Health Reform for Rate Hikes

Today President Barack Obama's top health official is vowing "zero tolerance'' for insurers that blame premium increases on the new health overhaul law.

Sebelius warned that bad actors may be excluded from new health insurance markets under the law. They'd lose out on a big pool of customers.

To view local health insurance rates in your city, visit Quotebroker.com for free instant policy comparisons or to enroll online.

An HHS official says the letter is a pre-emptive move, after officials got word that several smaller carriers around the country are blaming the law for rate increases. The administration says the cost of new benefits required by the law is "minimal.''

In a strong letter to the insurance lobby, HHS Sec. Kathleen Sebelius said she's putting companies on notice that the administration "will not tolerate unjustified rate hikes'' pinned on the health care law.

To compare health insurance plans in your city, visit Quotebroker.com for free instant health insurance quotes and side by side company comparisons.

Group Health Insurance Premiums Expected to rise 9%

California Health Insurance News:

Employers’ health-care costs are projected to increase by 9% next year (according to PricewaterhouseCoopers), and so they are looking for ways to economize on health insurance. (That same survey found that 42% of employers plan to increase health-care contributions from employees to help cover those higher costs.)

New employer plans, especially in the small business marketplace are choosing “leaner products where employers are very focused on managing their overall costs”. “Lean” is basically used to describe lower-cost plans with higher deductibles or that otherwise focus on covering catastrophic coverage and first dollar wellness benefits.

Shopping for Group Health Insurance has never been easier. Online quoting systems like Quotebroker allow employers to shop all popular plans in the state within minutes. Once a plan is selected, you may enroll online or call for assistance.

It happened again - This time Aetna

This week Aetna found a miscalculation in it's California rate filings during an additional internal actuarial review. As soon as they uncovered the mistake, Aetna informed the California Department of Insurance.

Aetna claims that this was a human error and no impact was felt by it's California based book of business.

Earlier this year Anthem Blue Cross was informed they too had internal errors in their filing for a significant customer rate hike. Anthem BC later canceled it's plan increase and stated that they would refile with the California Department of Insurance.(DOI).

For current premiums offered by all major California insurance companies visit  our website  at  www.quotebroker.com . Instant health insurance quotes, plan comparisons and enroll online - 24/7.

How much did your Health Insurance policy increase this year?

Today, individuals who bought their own health insurance recently have been hit with rate hikes averaging 20 percent, according to a national study released Monday.

The Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducted the research, found that about three-fourths of the country's 14 million people who don't get group coverage, many of them self employed, faced premium increases to keep their coverage.

Most paid the increase, perhaps trapped by the inability to find other coverage because of pre-existing conditions, researchers said. About 16 percent "bought down" into plans that were less expensive but provided fewer benefits. The average premium for an individual policy was about $3,606 annually – less than the $4,824 average for group coverage.

But those on the individual market typically have fewer benefits. And they pay more in out-of-pocket expenses, including huge deductibles.

While the individual health insurance market is relatively small compared to the group insurance market of about 157 million Americans, recent premium increases among people who have to buy their own insurance have received public attention.

With inflation and wages remaining relatively flat, it's understandable for consumers to view the increases as unreasonable, said the foundation's president, Drew Altman. "If you're being hit by a 20 percent increase … that's on its face a completely unreasonable increase."

The insurance industry blames rate hikes on the rising costs for hospital care, doctors and prescriptions.Health insurance premiums are increasing because medical costs continue to soar and young and healthy people are dropping their insurance during the recession," said Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans.

It could still be years before individual policyholders see any relief from the federal health care overhaul, which will start offering subsidies in 2014 to consumers who qualify. Advocates in California, who held a telephone news conference on Monday, insisted that the new law would eventually bring down costs.

But Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, said state regulators in the meantime must also put "additional scrutiny on rates." Wright expressed optimism that so-called insurance exchanges, which must be established by 2014 under the health care law, will give individuals the purchasing power that allows large businesses to negotiate better deals and coverage with insurers. Those who qualify, based on income, will be able to buy subsidized insurance through the exchange.

The California Legislature is currently considering a bill to create a state-run exchange from which the self-employed, small businesses, the currently uninsured and others who buy health insurance on their own can buy coverage. Currently consumers are encouraged to shop and compare individual and group coverage options. QuoteBroker offers free instant health insurance quotes from all major insurance providers. Shop, compare prices and enroll online.

Delta Dental Premier Open Enrollment

Delta Dental remains the most requested Dental plan, however most individuals are limited to participating in the Delta DMO plan (specific dentists). In order to see your own dentist, you will need to have a Delta PPO or Delta Premier program. These plans are usually only available to groups (10 or more W-2 employees).

Until now, most self employed individuals and independent contractors (1099), especially REALTORS, were limited to participating in their association sponsored insurance carriers plan, or had to purchase individual coverage.

Recently we have learned about a new program called Dental For Everyone . This plan is available to self employed individuals, small groups and independent contractors. Open enrollment is year round, allows you to use any dentist and rates are based on geographical area, not age. This link will also take you to a great additional benefit. Individuals can now participate in VSP Vision programs, a national vision program with participating department stores, specialty optometrists and vision chain retailers.

If you have been looking for a quality Dental insurance provider - Delta Dental remains one of the countries most popular carriers. For affordable California health insurance quotes, visit QuoteBroker Insurance Services at http://www.quotebroker.com