Tom Walsh of the Detroit Free Press (via JenJen):
In the past few days, 114,000 Michigan households have received bad-news letters from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, socking individual health insurance subscribers with premium increases averaging 22%, effective Oct. 1.
Blue Cross could have said, “Hey, things could have been worse. We asked for a 56% rate hike first and dialed it back to 22%” — but that probably would have just made folks angrier.
Instead, the Blue Cross letters simply stated, “We know every Michigan resident faces financial challenges, and we thank you for your business and loyalty to the Blues.”
That, my friends, is a statistic, not a hypothetical.
Svensker
But Doug, with the free market, those people are all free to move elsewhere, or get better jobs. So, not a problem.
Easy peasy.
r€nato
WOO HOO AMERICA IS #1!
/bartiromo
Demo Woman
“If medicare is so good why don’t you get it”
Yeah we can’t.
My rate increase should be coming soon and please don’t let it be 28%.
Thoughtcrime
How long before Goldman Sachs securitizes medical insurance policies?
4tehlulz
That’s because Blue Cross is a nonprofit. If they were a for-profit corporation, this would never have happened.
/Randroid
Comrade Jake
How long before some right-wingnut claims this is a market anticipation of Obama’s socialized medicine?
justme
Of course, the hikes have less to do with rising care costs and more with the company’s poor portfolio performance. Still, it’s the ratepayer who has to up with the coin to cover the bad bets. If that’s not enough to make one sick, I don’t know what is.
At what point does it become generally obvious that it might not be a great idea to put vampires in charge of the blood bank?
Sloth
Doug, it is important to note that health insurance has *not* skyrocketed in price, except in NY – and that is due to community rating. Your data must be ignored.
Sloth
Damn it, my “mccardle” tags got stripped.
jurassicpork
Regarding health care, Van Jones and a whole host of other topics: I didn’t vote for Neville Chamberlain. Did any of you?
demkat620
@Comrade Jake: My wingnut friend fed me that line last week.
Everything that happens now is either a response to Obama or an anticipation of an Obama tax hike.
It’s heads I win, tails you lose once again.
Pablo
Health insurance cos: All your raises belong to us.
jeffreyw
I just loves me my employer-paid insurance. It makes no sense at all to even think of single payer.
Sputnik_Sweetheart
I’m tired of all the wingers saying that rich people from other countries always come to the US to get important procedures done because the US has such great healthcare. Way to miss the point, guys. The lower and middle classes just don’t exist to these people.
Rosali
Orlando Sentinel: Rising health insurance costs far outpace wage growth for Florida workers
*Health insurance premiums in Florida more than double as wages go up 27 percent in past 10 years*
The average working Floridian is paying more than twice as much for health insurance now compared with a decade ago — though paychecks for the same period increased by only 27 percent, according to research released Thursday.
Add in higher out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, co-payments and services not covered by insurance, and a new report by Families USA says, “it is clear why many Florida families feel worse off economically than they did a decade ago.”
Brick Oven Bill
Re: Statistics
Detroit sucks, having walked around downtown not too long ago. I feel very bad for the WWII vets who came home, went to work, and bought a house there in the 1950s, only to have the policies of the left destroy the home value that they had worked hard for. Home values now average well under $10,000.
The Detroit High School graduation rate is 25 %. Those 25% who graduate from this school system most likely struggle with the challenges of making a pot of coffee. The costs of taking care of this mess are transferred by government to those people who work for a living and pay premiums. The working class is very much being victimized by this segment of society.
Perhaps Detroit can elect some Democrats to office, who will fix these problems.
Mr Furious
Detroit = All of Michigan, and is responsible for the BCBS business model. Got it. Thanks, jackass.
Lesley
I hail from Canada. The last time my public health care insurance premium went up was 2003. Next year it’s going up 6% (translating to $3 more for individuals and $6 more for families) per month. The very poorest people are covered and do not pay.
My health insurance premium is around $75 a month. There is no deductible. My employer pays half of that. For that I get all doctors visits, all lab tests covered, emergency care, any non-cosmedic surgeries I need, my hospital stay, ambulance services, etc. In other words, ALL my health care is covered. I also get 80% of my prescriptions covered and 80% of chiropractic, physio, and therapeutic massage. Additionally, if I need home care, I get reimbursed by the government for any health-related home care service, such as cleaning, if I can’t medically manage it.
My 74 year old neighbour has had two brain shunt implants by one of the best local neurosurgeons to correct hydrocephalus, as well as eye surgery, a demonstration that old people aren’t relegated to the dustbin. She also got weeks of after care and has home care (all paid for).
Despite some problems we’re having in Canada due to conservative politicians trying to privatize our system (because they are scumballs), I still wouldn’t trade places with any American.
JK
Tonight’s guest on C-SPAN’s Q & A which airs at 8 pm, re-airs at 11 pm
T.R. Reid – author of “The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care”
AW
Damn, only 22%?
Here in GA, I got a letter from BCBSGA indicating that my previous coverage plan was going to be obsolete, and recommending I switch to an “equivalent plan” that cost almost 100% more and offered nothing new.
Of course, I was free to keep paying the same amount I was before on a plan that offered significantly less.
I was insured less than 6 months before this happened, so I got the hint and joined those 49 million uninsured people.
BDeevDad
I saw the 22% and thought you were going to be talking about this. But there’s only rationing in gov’t healthcare.
RSA
You know, the next time I hear friends talking how college is so expensive these days, or perhaps saying that their kids couldn’t get into their first-choice college, I’m going to say, “America has the best university system in the world.” By conservative standards, that’s perfectly on point and leaves nothing more to be said.
Brendan
Hey BOB
1) There are lies, damn lies, and statistics…
2) Why is the graduation rate 25%? Couldn’t have anything to do with Shrub’s NCLB – of course not. Detroit, as well as many other cities in all 50 states are in this mess because of Saint Ronnie the Ray Gun, Big Shrub, and C+ Augustus.
3) Those people who have a job and pay premiums? Unlike you, of course – I hear your Mom calling from upstairs – dinner’s ready.
I know I’m arguing with the potted plant in the dining room, but I can’t help it.
PS : Lesley, as someone who grew up in the Northeast and loves hockey (really, I do) – that’s enough to get me in the door, eh??
Brick Oven Bill
Of course Detroit does not equal all of Michigan. For instance, I have also been recently to Escanaba, in the Upper Peninsula. There is a nice family restaurant with an excellent value on a fried walleye fillet. It was really good. Graduation rates in Escanaba are 90%, yielding a drop-out rate less than seven times that of Detroit. Ten percent versus seventy-five percent.
Although I cannot quantify it, my guess is that most graduates from Escanaba work and pay insurance premiums, even if they have to leave the state. These are the people upon whose back the medical costs of Detroiters are placed.
Sucks to be from Escanaba.
Aris
“That’s because Blue Cross is a nonprofit. If they were a for-profit corporation, this would never have happened.”
You’re quite right, because a for-profit insurance company would not insure the high-risk people Blue Cross has to cover.
For-profit insurance companies are not really “insurance” companies, they are simply an artifact created to skim off-the-top from payments that go from employers to the health care industry. They have no other function. They do not spread any risk, they merely avoid it.
____________________________________________
Linkmeister
@Brick Oven Bill: Just come right out and say it, pal: Detroit is predominantly black, Escanaba is predominantly white, so it’s no surprise to you that Detroit has lower graduation rates than Escanaba.
You really are a schmuck, you know that?
licensed to kill time
@Brick Oven Bill:
ensalada de palabras, otra vez
marjo
Blue Cross Blue Shield in Michigan is not-for-profit, but it is competing with private insurers who get to pick and choose who they cover. BCBS by state law must cover everyone who wants insurance, and loses money as a result. Health care reform would level the playing field at least somewhat, and it would not bleed money paying.
Those rightwing capitalists who say that people should be able to buy private insurance from across state lines don’t know what they’re talking about. The last thing needed in Michigan is out-of-state sharks like United Health Care coming in and taking the healthiest, youngest customers, while BCBSM has an even greater disparity in the community it insures.
We need better regulation on all insurers across the board. I am growing broke paying rising copays, deductibles and medications for my diabetes, while my income is stagnant, and I’m one of the lucky ones with employer (plus employee) paid insurance.
BR
Digg link to the article DougJ posted.
Health Insurance Companies
All your productivity gains belong to us.
Thank you,
Health Insurance Companies
Paris
B.O.B.,
“Although I cannot quantify it,”
You can stop speculating right there.
BDeevDad
@Paris: BOB is Megan McCardle in disguise.
Johnny Pez
As Trent Lott reminds us, we wouldn’t be in this mess if we had only elected Strom Thurmond president back in ’48.
Redstar
Hey, I’m even from Michigan (well, I was born there…)
Thank god I’m French!!!
Because you know, we bitch about taxes, everyone should, how else to keep the taxpayer honest ? but end of day life is good.
Talking about life being good, you know, like Americans (or any other normal human being) we also hate paying taxes. Almost as much as we like to….ummmm…what’s that polite word in English? [http://www.challenges.fr/actualites/europe/20090113.CHA9989/la_france_championne_deurope_de_la_natalite.html Procreate?]
Yes, happy to be contributing….Wonderful thing here, more kids you have, more your taxes go down, it’s really obvious…and of course this means,well. I don’t have to fill you in on what this means. (Unless I do in which case you would perhaps be my wife ;-)
Comrade Luke
I blew out my back at the gym back in June, and had an MRI to see what was wrong. Turned out is was a herniated disc, which I addressed with meds and rest.
Yesterday I got a $2300 bill and a letter from the doctor saying the claim was denied and that I need to talk to the insurance company about it.
This is gonna be a great week. I can already feel it.
slag
@BR: Dugg in honor of BOB.
demkat620
@Comrade Luke: You must be in one of those S o c i al is tic insurance thingys.
No for profit company would ever deny a claim. No sir, that would be Un American and anti profit. Also.
John Cole
This is technically true, but collectively nonsense.
SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta
@ 19 AW – I’m in GA and have Kaiser. I’m self employed and thus have a huge deductible but they’re lower on the evil scale than most, and a lot of preventitive care is just a co-pay without meeting deductible.
CalD
22%? Ha!
We just got the news that ours was going up over 30% for families, 48% for singles, and ours is still the least expensive carrier we’ve been able to find — believe me, we shopped again when we heard this. The others went up more. And this is in New England, not the rust belt.
I would bet that virtually everyone in the country who has health insurance is going to be getting a letter or a memo like this in the next few months, if you haven’t already. If you work for a big company, ask your HR person about it and watch their face.
In our case, by taking a 60% increase in our deductible we’ll be able to hold the increase in monthly fees to a mere 15% for families and 31% for singles. But that also pushes the deductible so high that the only real benefits to having health insurance are at least being covered if anything catastrophic happens and the fact that you still pay the carrier’s negotiated rate instead of full retail for everything, even if you’re paying 100% of it yourself — which of course means we’re still better off than the 40-odd million people in the country who don’t even have that much going for them.
It’s a good thing we have the best health care system in the world though. I’d be starting to feel downright mistreated by now if it turned out it’s merely mediocre.
DonkeyKong
Sorry to correct you John, it’s:
“This is statistically true, but hypothetical nonsense.”
Jon H
No, see, the problem is mandated coverage.
If the insurers were allowed to collect premiums, but could refuse to pay for anything at all, then we wouldn’t be in this situation.
fisher cat
@Brick Oven Bill:
Sure you can, BoB. You just need to loosen up a little.
Miss ya already…
Wellescent Health Forums
It is rather sickening that such a rate increase could be passed along to the consumer. Hopefully people do have another option to consider. Ultimately, however, some will not if they already have an illness and are not acceptable to other insurers. For these people, little choice likely exists.
The Grand Panjandrum
Clearly this means that all the janitors and clerical staff at BC/BS will be get 22% raises, no? And we will benefit from the free market ALWAYS giving us what we pay for. Right? Right?
gocart mozart
My heart goes out to any of those who voted Democrat. I have no sympathy for any Republican that loses health insurance. I am sorry, I just can’t anymore. I am currently in cynicism and anger overload.
stormhit
I know he’s an idiot; but downtown Detroit right now is much nicer than it has been in decades. Anyone claiming that the city “sucks” based on walking around there is full of it. Either that or their head is so far up their ass that they wouldn’t know a good time anyway.
gocart mozart
If B.O.B. were to have coverage for a serious illness denied by his insurance company, that would be what, poetic justice?
Brachiator
@CalD:
I take this as a sign that the insurance companies believe that they have won the battle over health care reform.
The arrogance is astounding.
AW
@SIA aka ScreamingInAtlanta:
Thanks for the tip. I’m self-employed here, too (remote work-for-hire computer stuff).
PurpleGirl
For the record: some BCBS companies are still (sort of) non-profit but a number of them are publicly traded for-profit insurers now.
Sloth
I take it more as a sign they think they are going to see some reform. In that context, this move could be an attempt to lock in higher rates before a potential freeze. It’s also a serious shot across the democrat’s bow. H.R.3200 has a public option which does not kick in until 2013. That gives us a little over three more years of this – and voters are going to expect some near immediate relief after all this shit. If the final bill doesn’t provide it, there will be serious consequences.
Wolfdaughter
I am retired from the University of Arizona. Our state retiree association has recently negotiated insurance coverage. The open enrollment for retirees on the Arizona State Retirement System just ended on Aug. 31.
The plan I was with is no longer going to be available. I went with Cigna as the cheapest plan with the best coverage in terms of deductibles, hospital stays, etc. Plus I used to be covered by Cigna and they were ok. Covered major back surgery a few years back, and I do mean MAJOR, whatever could be done to a back, I underwent. I carry a special card in my wallet in case I set off an airport alarm with the hardware in my back. Total cost of surgery, 8-day hospital stay, special fitted back brace, etc., was something ca. $25,000. They covered everything except a chest x-ray which the surgeon requested pre-op, actually to look at my heart size. $85 out of pocket; I could afford it and getting this bill like 2 weeks post-op, well I was still way too sick to even think about contesting it so I paid. But there are plenty of people, hardworking folk, who would be out several days food if they paid this.
Anyhoo, my monthly premium is going up ca. 25%. A little bit of apples and oranges here since we’re talking two different plans, but this was the cheapest option and I had chosen the cheapest option previously as well. Now it will be $535/mo deducted from my pension. And at that, I’m lucky compared to what many people have to pay.
I feel really sorry for all of you self-employed folk and those working in small businesses. There are compensations, of course, areas in which your work is better than that of a person working for Behemoth U, but health coverage just sucks for anyone not employed by a large publicly-funded organization. Or not on Medicare and/or not a veteran.
Linkmeister
I’m currently self-employed. I’ve seen my (single) monthly premium from Kaiser go from $140/month in 1999 to $344/month now, and my co-pays are percentages, so as prices of my meds go up (Diltia just jumped) I have to pay more for them.
Oh, and the other joy of self employment is that you get to pay both the employee and employer halves of FICA taxes.
Sloth
It is sort of odd that a party that is supposedly so in favor of entrepreneurship and small business and so against organized labor would not be clamoring for healthcare reform, because without it we are rapidly approaching conditions that will result in a large transfer of highly skilled labor to *government* and will foster a huge upswing in union power.
Just sayin’
RSA
At my Behemoth U., the strategy has been to nickel-and-dime us: the 90/10 “cost sharing” plan has been eliminated in favor of 80/20 and 70/30 plans; a 9% rate hike in 2009 is followed by an identical hike in 2010; co-pays are being raised; vision exams are no longer covered (dental was always extra); there are a shitload of prescription drug changes to cost and rules for using generics. It’s more complicated than I can understand without hours of effort, which I imagine is a plus for those who came up with it all.
Litlebritdifrnt
I am sure we will soon be getting that same letter. Last year our agent said our premiums were “only going up 15% which is really good” HA! I expect them to raise them again this year despite my not having made a single claim against my plan since 2004. We have our office building up for sale, we are currently under contract, I am going to suggest to my boss that when we sell the building I go part time, so he can drop me from the plan, we will shop for a cheaper policy for him alone. There is simply no justification for him paying $700.00 a month for something that I will never (or rarely) use. I believe that I can jump on my husband’s State Employees plan for about $200.00 a month, which I will probably do, unless my other (new) part-time employer offers coverage. This is what I don’t understand, if small business owners realized the amount of money they would save with a public option they would be all over this idea.
mai naem
I wish there was one MSM reporter/pundit whatever…just somebody who has a daily show, would ask every person who comes on discussing healthcare how there healthcare is covered? I mean every congress critter and every lobbyist, every pundit. I am willing to bet you would hear a lot of anti-healthcare reform people either get retirement government benefits, current government benefits or VA benefits.
jl
@mai naem: Steele was asked. He didn’t know. I wonder how many of them would know.
If you actually know, or have a need to know exactly how your healthcare is taken care of, you are one of the little people and not fit to appear on TV. (unless you are wingnut spouting hateful nonsense).
Dream On
“Loyalty to the Blues”?
Talk about depression!
oh really
Yeah, right. In most cases that “loyalty” is probably nothing more than having no other choice. Some loyalty.
bob h
The insurers see that the environment for them is going to get politically difficult soon, and are locking in the rate increases while they can get them.
tofubo
some of that 22% will go to providing care, some won’t
http://www.hillbillyreport.com/blog/dan-loepp/
shortstop
And of course, while these people are sighing ecstatically over the U.S. being the choice of sheiks and PMs who can pay cash for the highest-priced specialists, not a word is ever mentioned about the 6 million Americans who will go overseas in 2010 to get medical procedures they can’t afford here. Six fucking million.
shortstop
My mistake. The 6 million projection has been trimmed to 1.6 million, twice the number that went abroad for medical care in 2007. Still staggering.
MikeN
Ok…so you are on the verge of getting bitch slapped by the Federal Government, and your entire business model is a campaign issue.
It makes PERFECT sense to get that last pound of flesh right? Either they know something we dont (i.e. they really have NOTHING to fear) or they are really really stupid.
I’m eternally hopeful, but I tend to doubt that Blue Cross acts stupidly when the stakes are this high.
CalD
@Brachiator:
Maybe. But I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the industry has become so addicted to annual rate increases and getting pretty much whatever they want (in any other context, “pay up or die” is usually referred to as extortion I believe) that this might be their idea of keeping their heads down.
Lgi2352554
I don’t think anyone is getting the point! The more people that are unemployed,the more you will pay for your insurance. The more people that don’t have insurance, the more go uninsured.Sooner or later, most wont be insured and will go to the emergency room for care. The Tax payer will pay for that at a higher cost. The people that get medicare and medicaid, The tax payer pays for too. Medicare and medicaid pay private insurance to run it. So that mean Tax payers are paying for private insurance for other people! If we just paid for universal in the first place we would all get care at a better cost. The private insurance comps would run the whole thing anyway!
rs
@Brick Oven Bill:
Racist asshole. I spend a lot more time in the UP than the occasional fish fry. The truth is, in terms of welfare and unemployment the upper peninsula of Michigan is and always has been (even before the hard times that have befallen the auto industry) just a really large Flint or Detroit with waterfalls and moose. I love it there, and will probably live there permanently when I retire, but there’s only 300K of Michigan’s 10M population there surviving largely due to the transfer of wealth from the lower peninsula.