If folks like Rhode Island Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher F. Koller keep playing hardball with the bloodsucking, parasitic, big-profit health insurance industry, we may just have Medicare-for-all sooner than we expect. This kind of stuff is what makes those so-called "insurers" call uncle:
R.I. Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher F. Koller issued an order Tuesday lowering the effective overall average rate for Blue Cross & Blue Shield’s Direct Pay health insurance customers by 1.1 percent.
The decrease in rates, which is scheduled to begin April 1, will cover 18 months until Jan. 1, 2014, when the “array of products and their pricing will change considerably” as a result of implementation federal health care reform, according to Koller.
In accepting the hearing officer’s recommendation, Koller rejected Blue Cross’s request for an overall average increase of 2.4 percent.
But, wait, there's more. Koller also chastised the bloodsuckers for selling junk insurance with high deductibles and co-payments:
In his written decision, Koller also voiced concerns about the co-payments and deductibles being introduced in new products being offered by Blue Cross in this market.
“While lower up front rates that will be in effect for a year and half are welcome for Direct Pay subscribers, I am concerned with the level and type of cost sharing assumed in the products being introduced,” Koller said. “As Jan. 1, 2014, approaches, the order starts to align Rhode Island’s individual health insurance market with what is envisioned under the Affordable Act.”
Way to put insurance companies in their place, Sir! You are a real American hero.
As The Huffington Post recently reported, high-deductible plans "pinch" employees on both sides:
Last year, her health plan paid for surgery, chemotherapy and radiation to treat her colorectal cancer. This year, her employer switched to a new plan, which won't even pay for a $39 box of ostomy bags.
Bass, a 57-year-old school bus driver from Hazlehurst, Ga., is among a rising number of Americans with shrinking health benefits and expanding deductibles. Bass said her new plan costs $333 per month to cover her and her husband, up from $210. The plan also comes with a staggering $3,000 deductible. Though her employer put $1,000 into an account to help pay for medical bills, Bass has already spent half of it on prescription drugs and other expenses. She'll soon need to find an extra $2,000 before her insurance kicks in.
Easier said than done. Bass takes home $395 a month. Her husband's disability benefits bring in another $1,285. "We are completely broke," she said. Her oncologist ordered a PET scan to check whether the cancer has stayed away, but she doesn't know how much it costs or whether her plan will cover it. She's going in for the test anyway.
Health insurance companies have no, absolutely NO reason to ask for higher premiums when they are also forcing customers into high-deductible plans that force care to be delayed, at the policyholder's peril.
Rhode Island has a lot of reasons to be proud of its Commissioner tonight. Well done, Sir. Well done.