Blue Shield, Aetna To Proceed With Rate Hikes In California. March 7, 2013 The Los Angeles Times reports, “Despite objections from regulators, health insurers Blue Shield of California and Aetna Inc. are proceeding with double-digit rate increases that state officials said were unreasonable.” The rate increases, averaging eleven percent for about 47,000 policyholders, were called unreasonable by California Department of Managed Health Care officials, although they lack authority
to deny them. “I am disappointed that after le
ngthy negotiations, Blue Shield and Aetna were unwilling to bring their proposed health plan increases
down to a reasonable level,” said Brent Barnhart, director of the angelscamp.org Department of Managed Health Care. According to Barnhart, both insurers did offer some concessions and lowered rate increases for some of the affected policies but some Blue Shield members will still see 20% rate increases. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones “is expected to criticize another rate increase from Blue Shield at a news conference Thursday.”