http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/01/BALO1C98VB.DT
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A consumer group filed a lawsuit Monday against Anthem Blue Cross,
accusing the insurer of raising rates to force members into policies
with higher deductibles and lower benefits.
Consumer Watchdog accuses Anthem of violating state law by failing to
offer policyholders comparable coverage and minimize rate hikes after
the company directs customers to alternative plans when closing out
existing plans.
San Rafael resident Mary McNamara Feller, a plaintiff in the suit, which
was filed in Ventura County, said she had to do something after Anthem
last month proposed raising rates on the policy covering her and her
husband nearly 39 percent to $1,658 a month.
She said the company offered her the option of switching to a policy
with a higher deductible and skimpier benefits by a specific deadline,
but also told her she could stay in her current policy. The company
notified her of the enormous premium increases in her plan after the
deadline had passed.
"It just seems like there's no end in sight," said Feller, 56, adding
that she experienced a similar increase last year. "The way Blue Cross
handles this is by forcing plan members into plans that increasingly put
people at risk financially. ... It's no longer just about us. It's about
800,000 people who don't have any recourse."
Anthem, which is owned by WellPoint Inc., has come under state and
federal scrutiny for hiking the rates of its 800,000 individual
policyholders, or those not covered through a group plan, by as much as
39 percent. The increases were scheduled to take effect Monday, but the
company agreed to delay them until May 1 to allow the state time to
investigate.
California authorities have little power over rates, but Consumer
Watchdog's lawsuit relies on a 1993 state law that requires an insurer
to offer enrollees a comparable alternative plan.
The suit accuses Anthem of forcing older and sicker members, who are
unable to switch carriers, to pay higher and higher premiums until they
accept inferior coverage or drop coverage altogether.
"Either way, Anthem wins," said Jerry Flanagan, Consumer Watchdog's
health policy director.
Anthem officials said they had not seen the lawsuit and could not
comment.
This is not the first lawsuit filed over Anthem's rate hikes. On Feb.
11, Burlingame attorney Ron Galasi, an Anthem customer, filed a lawsuit
in San Mateo County Superior Court, accusing the insurer of unfair
competitive business practices.
"I want to show this corporation, whether we win or lose, we're not
going to let them walk over us anymore," Galasi said.
--
Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact, to
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel of New York's
million dollar tax evasion. On February 25, 2010, the House ethics
committee has concluded that Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B.
Rangel knowingly accepted Caribbean trips in violation of House rules that
forbid hidden financing by corporations. Democrat criminal Nancy Pelosi
is deliberately ignoring the million dollar tax evasion of Democrat
Charles Rangel.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had to be forced to remove Charles B. Rangel
from the House Ways and Means Committee.
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