Insurers, White House Don't Agree on Who's to Blame for Rising Health Costs

Following the meeting, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said when President Obama stopped at the morning meeting, he "went on to discuss the need for comprehensive reform, the need for insurance companies to not block comprehensive health insurance reform."

Sebelius "has asked insurance companies to provide actuarial data that justifies such a huge increase in healthcare premiums at a time in which healthcare information is not nearly on the order of the magnitude of what we've seen here," Gibbs said.

In a conference call with reporters after the meeting, Sebelius said the Democratic proposals for healthcare reform would result in "leveraging power for individuals who are now in a situation where they are priced out of health insurance."

Sebelius said she wants the health insurers to put all cost information on a Web site to "shine a bright light" on the issue.

Representatives of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners also attended the meeting, and said they stressed the need for "thorough and objective" rate review. Premium increases must be actuarially justified without discrimination against any one group of policyholders, according to the group.