In another effort to convince insurance companies not to impose premium increases lightly, Californians may now be notified by e-mail whenever their plan proposes a commercial plan rate hike.
"We want as many people as possible scouring these rate filings to ensure they are mistake-free," state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said in a statement. "The e-mail notification tool will expand access to these documents by informing the public of when there are new filings to peruse.
"This additional analysis, in conjunction with scrutiny by the Department of Insurance's in-house actuaries and independent actuaries retained by the Department, will help ensure that consumers are protected and insurers are spending 70% of premiums on medical benefits, as required by law."
California is the only state in the nation which posts health insurance rate filings for the individual market on its website.
The consumer notification program comes after the Anthem Blue Cross attempt in April to raise premiums by 39%, an effort that came under fire, especially after an actuarial audit discovered the plan had made substantial errors in math.
Subsequently, the insurance company backed down. A filing June 30th requested a 13% increase. Anthem's CEO, Leslie Margolin, announced last week that she would step down to help launch a coalition of groups aimed at transforming the state's health care system.
"My job as Insurance Commissioner is to ensure that consumers get treated fairly and [are] charged accurate prices," Poizner said in a June statement. "When we retained an outside actuary to review Anthem Blue Cross' rate filing, we found that Anthem had attempted to increase its rates by 50 percent more than state law allows. By subjecting insurer rate filings to this additional level of scrutiny, California consumers will know that all major insurers are adhering to the state's requirement that 70 percent of premiums are spent on medical benefits."
Health plan premium increases do not require regulatory approval in California although several bills have been introduced to change that law.
Also, the state's four largest insurers in the individual market will undergo rate filing review by an outside actuary, appointed by Poizner's office, to make sure health plans adhere spending 70% on medical benefits as opposed to administration or marketing. They include Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna, Health Net, and Blue Shield, which cover 90% of the individual health insurance market.