CA's Blue Shield to delay rate hikes

Blue Shield of California backed down from its earlier stance and agreed to comply with the state Department of Insurance's request to delay imposing its rate increases on its individual policyholders for 60 days. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones last month asked four major insurers with scheduled rate hikes to hold off on those increases to allow the department time to review the rate proposals for accuracy. Last week, Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna and PacifiCare agreed to the delay. But Blue Shield, which had proposed increases as high as 59% in recent months effective March 1, had refused to do so.