AG Gansler Tells Maryland Insurance Regulators: “Freeze the Rates”

Working families can’t afford CareFirst’s outrageous 25% rate hikes, much less threatened rate hikes of 100-150%

Massive health insurance rate hikes are not justified before

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler today urged the Maryland Insurance Administration to freeze any health insurance rate hike above five percent and implement a full public review of any such requested increase after six months. With evidence indicating that President Obama’s healthcare reform is beginning to bend the healthcare cost curve in favor of consumers, it would be irresponsible to grant massive rate hikes to CareFirst or any other healthcare insurance provider based on current information.

“We need to freeze the rates for Maryland consumers and then make decisions based on the reality on the ground, not projections that serve the needs of insurance company executives,” said Attorney General Gansler. “Some insurance executives are threatening rate hikes of 25 percent, reaching 100 to 150 percent for some consumers, and Maryland families can’t afford that.”

Major insurance companies, including CareFirst, are filing massive rate hike requests to enrich their coffers before the full impact of the Affordable Care Act is fully known. In fact, the rise in the cost of healthcare has begun to ease, due in part to changes in the healthcare industry, both applied and anticipated, under health care reform. For example, California recently implemented the nation’s first Health Benefit Exchange program, providing consumers with surprisingly reasonable rates in the initial offering.

“As a strong supporter of the President’s healthcare reforms, I know there are many good and significant changes that will benefit many Maryland families,” added Attorney General Gansler. “Unfortunately, some health insurance companies are using these changes as an excuse to demand massive hikes in their premiums.”