Alliance, IUPAT Members Ask Obama About Health Care Reform
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Barbara Franklin was worried that under the new health care reform law, seniors who receive their Medicare coverage from the privately-run Medicare Advantage program would see their coverage and benefits reduced because the law eliminates some government subsidies the private insurers receive.
So she called President Obama.
Franklin, the president of Illinois chapter of the Alliance for Retired Americans, was one of several callers and in-person questioners who took part in last week’s tele-town hall meeting exploring the new law’s impact on seniors and Medicare. The Alliance hosted more than two dozen watch parties for the tele-town hall.
President Obama reassured Franklin that the law’s new rules for Medicare Advantage will protect seniors and ensure that Medicare Advantage is “not just a big giveaway to the insurance companies.” Read the rest of this entry »
HHS Report Slams Insurers Premium Hikes While Pocketing Record Profits
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Profits for the nation’s 10 largest health insurance companies increased 250 percent between 2000 and 2009—10 times faster than inflation—but that hasn’t stopped the private insurance industry from trying to reach even deeper into consumers’ pocketbooks with huge premium increases.
According to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the nation’s five largest insurance companies took in combined profits of $12.2 billion last year, up 56 percent over 2008.
But companies such as Anthem Blue Cross of California, owned by WellPoint, which enjoyed a $4.7 billion profit in 2009, want more. Anthem announced this month it would raise premiums on 800,000 Californians by as much as 39 percent. Insurers in several other states are seeking similar hikes. Says HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius:
Over the last year, America’s largest insurance companies have requested premium increases of 56 percent in Michigan, 24 percent in Connecticut, 23 percent in Maine, 20 percent in Oregon, and 16 percent in Rhode Island, to name just a few states. Premium increases have left thousands of families that are already struggling during the economic downturn with an unpleasant choice between fewer benefits, higher premiums, or having no insurance at all. Hard-working families deserve better.
Connecticut Attorney General to Investigate Insurance Company Abuses
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The state of Connecticut has asked six leading insurance companies—Aetna, ConnectiCare, HealthNet, Anthem, United Health Group and WellCare—to fully disclose what they’re telling their members about health care reform.
The request comes after Humana, another insurance provider, was caught providing misleading and scare-mongering information to Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D customers about the future effects of health care reform legislation.
The investigation follows a call by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka for more accountability for insurance companies and a serious examination of whether these companies’ political activity and lobbying are a contributor to skyrocketing rates and rising costs for consumers.
In recent days, Trumka sent a letter to Connecticut’s insurance commissioner, Thomas Sullivan, asking him to investigate the impact of health insurance companies’ lobbying expenditures on health insurance premiums and adopt regulations to prevent lobbying costs from being transferred to consumers through excessive rate increases.
Tell Your Health Care Insurer It’s Time for Real Reform
Health insurance companies have turned to scare tactics and outright lies to fight health care reform. Seems they’re not satisfied with jacking up the cost of premiums, canceling policies when people get sick and denying treatment.
In fact, you can tell the health insurance companies you’re sick of their lies and that it’s time for real health care reform.
- Click here if a Blue Cross Blue Shield company provides your health insurance.
- Click here if UnitedHealthcare provides your health insurance.
- Click here if Aetna provides your health insurance.
- Click here if Humana provides your health insurance.
- Click here if CIGNA provides your health insurance.
- Click here if a different company provides your health insurance.
- Click here if you don’t have health insurance.
Today, Florida members of the Alliance for Retired Americans rallied in front of the West Palm Beach offices of Humana and called the scare tactics and lies ”unconscionable.”
Insurers Fight Health Care Reform with Dirty Tricks, But Public Supports Obama Plan
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More proof out this week that the insurance industry’s sweet words for health care reform are dripping with hypocrisy. America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), which has been pushing a sham health care reform campaign masquerading as a grassroots initiative, now seems to be using dirty tricks and outright falsehoods in an attempt to keep some of their most profitable programs.
Jason Rosenbaum writes on Health Care For America Now! how Ken Johnson of the (New Bedford, Mass.) Eagle-Tribune noticed that AHIP was sending letters to newspapers in Massachusetts under the names of real seniors—who are unaware their names are being used—demanding that their representatives in Congress protect the Medicare Advantage health care program.
