Friday, March 29, 2024

Proposed health insurance hike unreasonable

If money grew on trees, life would be a lot less stressful.

Last Wednesday, a Lansing administrative law judge ruled that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan did not make the case to raise rates for individuals who buy their own health insurance.

The case, filed in 2006, involves a rate hike, proposed by Blue Cross, that requested increases of 25 to 43 percent for 7 of 12 individual insurance policies.

A Livonia couple filed a case challenging the rate increase. If the case holds up, it might help steady the cost of health insurance for the 4.6 million Michigan Blue Cross customers. If supported by Michigan Insurance Commissioner Kenneth Ross, the ruling might also lead to refunds for at least 100,000 consumers.

The company currently has a surplus fund of $2.4 billion.

Blue Cross must be under the impression that money grows on trees.

People shouldn’t have to go broke trying to make sure their health care needs are met.

It’s understandable that with the cost of gas, housing and food prices increasing, there might be a need for health insurance companies to raise rates. But it’s highly unlikely that Blue Cross is one of those companies in need, especially when they’re sitting on billions of extra dollars.

The amount they are asking for goes beyond excessive. It just seems as if Blue Cross is asking for this rate hike, because they know the cost of living is going up and they want to hop on the bandwagon.

It’s unfortunate that people have to come out of pocket with such large amounts of money just to have health care available if and when they need it.

In reality, there probably aren’t many people who maximize the use of their health care insurance. Many people might not visit a doctor unless they’re in serious need of medical assistance. There are also many health problems today that can be treated with over-the-counter medicine. That’s not to imply that rates shouldn’t be raised because people aren’t taking advantage of their health insurance, but is there really a need for a rate increase? Are people any sicker today than they were a two years ago?

Besides, Blue Cross is charging consumers excessive amounts of money for a plan that possibly covers little beyond a serious health problem. If they really wish to raise rates by as much as 43 percent, the least they could do is provide better health care coverage for their customers.

Blue Cross is being completely unreasonable. As a company providing a service to people, they should be able to find some common ground to agree on this issue. Then again, why should people have to bargain to keep health care insurance rates down when staying healthy is a necessity?

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