Today's diary will be brief. Now, I am a resident of NV, but am incorporated in CA, I spend quite a bit of time in both Vegas and LA, but when I saw Anthem/Blue Cross of CA raising individual policy premiums 39% on the news tonight-after making $2.7B last year...I was just outraged.
Links and further outrage after the break.
Here's the LA Times coverage of the story, which focuses on Anthem's president testifying before the CA Assembly, the SJ Mercury News', which focuses on Sen Dianne Feinstein's introduction of a bill which would give authority to HHS to determine whether a rate hike was excessive.
At some point in time it makes you wonder whether the American people are being punished for trying to get affordable health care, to get the public option in HCR. Also, I think HCR will go down as the ultimate litmus test as to how much our politicians listen to us (apparently very little for the most part).
Well, apparently most of them except this one...
HCR is a complete, unmitigated, total no-brainer. Unless, of course, if you're an insurance company. I have no problem with them making a profit, but if they really need a 39% increase, then the system is obviously so broken anyway, reform must happen. This much is obvious to me.
The final thing, as Rep. Grayson has pointed out many a time, is that the voters voted for change. Now, I'm still a big fan of the Administration and Obama, they have done many things so far during a very difficult Presidency, but HCR is ultimately what they're going to be judged upon, and it's what Congress is ultimately going to be judged upon.
(Besides, you get the collateral bonus of watching the Fox News talking heads do 1080s and vomit split pea soup if public option does pass.)
I think the links tell the story, not a whole lot of commentary is needed. What's outrageous to me is that HCR really is an issue. It's only an issue to the special interests in DC, the insurance companies and their lobbyists, and last but not least, most of The Village.
Insurance fraud, too is part of the problem, a couple of stories I can tell you from there (let's see, a couple of Orange County massage parlors which were fronts for prostitution, but accepted Blue Cross for the house fee; the Canadian dermatologist in Detroit who wouldn't core out my plantar wart; he wanted to freeze it with nitrogen, so he could bill 6-8 office visits, which he could never get away with in Canada, and a few others), but that's for another time.