Mass. agency limits health premium increase

[andym]

Source: Associated Press

BOSTON – Massachusetts regulators issued their first batch of health care price controls on Thursday, rejecting the vast majority of small business health premium increases sought this year by the state's major insurers.
Insurance Commissioner Joseph Murphy said he had disapproved 235 of 274 proposed rate increases because they included "excessive increases and rates unreasonable relative to the benefits provided."

The head of a group representing insurers, health care providers and an array of area businesses, termed the action "arbitrary and capricious" and said it would hurt insurance companies because they already have negotiated contracts with health care providers.

.....

Patrick said that would enable the Division of Insurance to perform an in-depth evaluation of the proposed rate changes and to determine their reasonableness. He preemptively announced it would be hard to justify anything larger than a 3.2 percent rate of consumer medical inflation.

In a statement, the insurance division outlined three problems it found:
_The filings failed to illustrate how the carriers pay similarly situated providers differing reimbursement rates based solely on quality of care, mix of patients, intensity of services and geographic location.
_The filings failed to demonstrate that insurers have renegotiated provider-reimbursement rates.
_The filings were "significantly above" the medical consumer price index and insurers did not adequately explain why.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100401/ap_on_bi_ge/ma_premium_cap

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Sounds like the Mass HCR is finally beginning to work to prevent premium increases.

Does the national HCR bill have similar potential to prevent premium increases?

[Crowhill]

1. Price controls are stupid ...

... because they interfere with market signals. You can't have a real economy without free prices. The government is going to ruin health care.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[fascisthunter]

3. as if I gave a damn about markets... as if they ever gave a damn about us

if you weren't so ignorant and so narrowly driven by concerns for a pathetic sociopathic market, you'd see how the private insurance companies have already ruined health care and our economy!

[ozymandius]

6. So healthcare and deregulated Enron economics were okay?

Those elements drove market signals. Fact is though: the signals were pure fiction and drained wealth out of the economy, concentrating wealth within clearly definable sectors that had no interest in sharing the deregulated boons.

You will find no friends of Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan here. At least, no friends who are long for the tombstone.

[sandnsea]

9. As opposed to decades of controlled electricity

That brought power to every home in the country. Wouldn't it be great if we could inject them with some intelligence every time they flipped the switch. Oh yeah, government brought me this electricity.

[LanternWaste]

7. You can of course name a vibrant, expansive economy...

You can of course name a healthy, vibrant, expansive economy which had as a part and parcel of its existence, zero regulation and oversight (both of which interfere with "market signals"), yes?

Or do you need a few additional qualifiers to your initial statement....?

[sandnsea]

8. Yeah, price controls totally ruined the electricity market

Go away fool.

[Donnachaidh]

10. ummmmmm pizza. n/t

[EFerrari]

11. The government can't ruin health care. It's already ruined.

:hi:

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. "You can't have a real economy without free prices."

I think you made a left turn when you meant to make a right turn on the web.

[karynnj]

15. I would agree with you here - I would bet he/she will be gone today

[girl gone mad]

13. Hate to break it to you, but..

efficient market theory has been proven utterly and thoroughly wrong time after time.

[karynnj]

14. That assumes that the insurance companies represent an open market

The fact is that there are few companies in teh market and anti-trust regulations do not apply to them - therefore they can discuss prices and there are none of the free market forces you are referring to. It is not in the interest of any of them to lower rates.

[pattmarty]

16. Do you (as a propagandist) actually have any fucking idea what.................

............the fuck you are talking about? You're a fucking idiot.

[Demeter]

4. This is the Beginning of the End of RomneyCare/Obamacare

RIP and good riddance.

Nothing as inherently contradictory and unstable as these "plans" can survive.
The costs alone make them unviable.

[nodehopper]

5. this IS a part of Romneycare...one of the working parts, it appears.