Health-care shocker: Anthem Blue Cross policy-holder’s premium goes up 69 percent [BC-HEALTHCARE-ANTHEM:MK]

LOS ANGELES _ While lawmakers and President Barack Obama are lamenting premium hikes of up to 39 percent that Anthem Blue Cross of California plans to charge policy-holders, Lori Creasey says that's nothing.

Try 69 percent.

Creasey, a Huntington Beach, Calif.-based attorney, said she received notices late last year for the two individual Anthem policies she bought for her college-age sons. For her 18-year-old son, Kyle, the monthly premium was climbing to $135 from $80, a 69 percent hike. Her 21-year-old, Walter, saw his premium jump to $139 from $84, a 65 percent increase.

"I was kind of shocked when I got (them)," Creasey said.

Anthem's notices, dated Dec. 4, said that "periodically, it is necessary to adjust our health-coverage rates," and were signed by James E. Oatman, vice president and general manager of individual services for Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Co.

Recent reports said the company planned to raise its rates by up to 39 percent, and Anthem had said the average increase stood at 25 percent. But this development, with rates increasing at a much greater percentage than that, raises questions about the extent of Anthem's planned price hikes in California.

Even more perplexing is that Anthem seems to be driving up prices even higher on what is known in the industry as "invincibles," or policy-holders under 30 that are generally considered at low health risk. These are the customers that the industry desperately needs to help spread out the risks and costs from sicker patients.

In response to an inquiry about Anthem Blue Cross rates from MarketWatch, WellPoint Inc.'s staff vice president for corporate communications, Jerry Slowey, sent the following statement via e-mail: "It is important to note that premiums are expensive because the underlying health-care costs are expensive.

"Anthem regularly evaluates its rate structure to make sure that the cost of claims incurred is offset by the premiums collected, and that we anticipate the cost of future, expected claims," the statement said.

Creasey, who is now semi-retired, said she used to represent health insurers when she was practicing law full-time. Considering herself a discriminating consumer of health-care policies, she regarded Anthem, a subsidiary of WellPoint, to be one of the better insurers available.

"I had experience with them in the past and thought they were fine and they had a lot of providers. And they had the better hospitals, too," Creasey added.

Now, however, she wonders how the insurer can justify such high increases _ particularly when the only claims filed in the past year were for treating an ear infection for her older son. "I just wanted to insure my healthy children, who are in college," Creasey commented.

Anthem had said it would delay enforcing its price increase by two months to May 1, but the hikes for Creasey's sons took effect Feb. 1, with no delay or grace period, she said.

The company has been under fire in recent weeks after reports surfaced that Anthem Blue Cross planned to increase premiums up to 39 percent in California. That drew ire from a number of lawmakers, as well as Obama, who mentioned it in a press briefing.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., announced Friday she planned to introduce legislation that would prevent "egregious" premium hikes and would create a Medical Insurance Rate Authority.

"This is unconscionable," Feinstein said of the Anthem rate hikes in a statement. "It places a huge burden on people who are already struggling in these tough economic times, including the estimated 700,000 Anthem Blue Cross policy-holders in California."

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has scheduled hearings next week, asking Anthem to justify their rate hikes.

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Asked for a comment on Creasey's case, Waxman said in a statement: "These new reports of premium increases of over 60 percent are deeply troubling. Our committee has opened an investigation into this issue, and I hope that next week we will hear directly from WellPoint as to how they justify these exorbitant rate increases."

"This once again underscores the need for Congress to pass comprehensive health-care reform so that Americans have access to affordable health care and are protected from abusive insurance-company practices," Waxman went on to say.

For her part, Creasey said she tried to file a complaint directly with Anthem. Apparently she was referred to a number that when dialed, repeatedly says that all circuits are busy.

Another Anthem representative told her she would file a grievance for her, but that it would be a "one-day grievance."

The representative said "they don't ever take any action on those grievances," according to Creasey. "It was kind of a cavalier attitude, I thought."

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