Anthem Blue Cross

READER'S EDITORIAL: ANTHEM SHOULD BE EXCLUDED FROM HEALTH BENEFITS EXCHANGE

 

By Dave Jones, California Insurance Commissioner

July 30, 2013 (San Diego) – In case you missed it, last week I recommended that Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Cross of California should be excluded from California's Small Business Health Benefits Exchange.

On July 1, Anthem will increase rates on small employers 7.2%, the third unreasonable rate increase imposed on small employers this year alone.  The 12-month cumulative increase for these Anthem customers is 17.6%; had Anthem reduced its rate increase to a reasonable level as I requested, policyholders would have seen $37 million in savings.


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ANTHEM BLUE CROSS WITHDRAWS RATE HIKES UP TO 39%

Bill to regulate rate hikes introduced by Insurance Commissioner candidate Dave Jones
 

April 30, 2010 (Sacramento - Following a storm of criticism, Anthem Blue Cross announced yesterday that it will withdraw its request to raise premiums by as much as 39% on California policy holders.
 

“The hearings I chaired revealed that Anthem Blue Cross and its parent company, Wellpoint, have made billions in profits at the expense of Californians,” Assemblyman Dave Jones, candidate for State Insurance Commissioner, said in a press release issued today. When the insurer refused to provide information on salary packages of its executives, Jones said, “I issued the first Legislative subpoena in a decade to get that information.”


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EDITORIAL: VALUE LIVES, NOT PROFITS!


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BIG INSURANCE: SICK OF IT!

Story and photos by Leon Thompson

September 22, 2009 (La Jolla) Health reform advocates today held a “Big Insurance: Sick of It” rally as part of a nationwide day of action. Locally, a rally was staged in front of the San Diego office of Anthem Blue Cross, the California subsidiary of insurance giant Wellpoint. Protestors demanded that Anthem Blue Cross sign a pledge to support real reform and end what the activists called “bad health insurance industries practices.”

More than 75 exuberant protestors called for an immediate end to such practices as denying coverage based on pre-existing medical conditions, arbitrary caps on payments, and terminating policies (in many cases, after people are sick with a costly-to-treat illness). Advocates for reform also charged that Anthem offers incentives to its employees to deny patient care or reject claims.


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