AUGUSTA, Maine — Health insurer Anthem Health Plans of Maine Inc. is seeking an average 1.7 percent rate increase.
The rate changes were requested in a filing with the Maine Bureau of Insurance.
The requested rates cover about 11,000 individual policyholders and would take effect July 1. The maximum increase in the filing is 18.2 percent, for people older than 60 with a $15,000 deductible. The maximum decrease is 17.5 percent.
Joe Ditre, executive director for Consumers for Affordable Health Care told the Kennebec Journal the request is “excessive.”
The state’s highest court ruled in February that state regulators were justified last year in cutting a rate-increase request by Anthem. The insurer sought a 9.2 percent increase, but that was cut to 5.2 percent. Anthem appealed and lost.
Good thing obamacare is going to lower rates! At least that’s what the Boy King keeps telling us.
Watch what happens to the low rates when the next presidential election is over. Let me state Obama’s words to the Russian ruler a few months ago. ” after my election I will have more flexiabality “. Watch out America !
Most of the Affordable Care Act has not been put into effect yet. It will lower rates if people took the time to understand what the bill does and how it works.
Good thing LePage signed that insurance law that allows insurance companies to raise rates without needing to seek permission as long as it’s under 10% (or something close to that from what I recall). Look at all the attorney’s fees the insurance companies will save!
Oh, my gosh. Here we go again. I just received a notice that in July my premium was going….get this…..DOWN. Now, let the games begin again. I have always worked and have always had insurance. Something’s got to give and we need more choices for insurance. Being single keeping a one income household going is getting harder and harder. However, it is becoming easier to see what just may have to go.
Seems every month they want another rate hike. Time for a single payer system run by Medicare. Screw these for profit thieves. Their CEO needs another 2 million dollar raise.
I actually agree with you. Medicare for All…today. Tax us accordingly, and if your employer gives you medical coverage, tax that, too.
Medicare for all, great idea……unless your a provider. Medicare owes providers so much money, and when they do pay it for pennies on the dollar. I would much rather be able to shop for and buy my insurance from whom ever, and wherever I want. Currently you can’t in Maine. You have the choice of the lesser of 4 or 5 evils. Thanks but no thanks. I guess I will take the lesser of all evils rather than a defunct state system. True is I would rather pay cash, long run, probably be cheeper
You’re largely right…a part that most single-payer advocates miss. It would be a difficult change for the providers, drugs companies, and medical manufacturers. But change is coming, one way or the other. I’d rather see the providers take the lead…instead of have the politicians dictate a solution.
I couldn’t agree more, problem those providers are few and far between. I am fortunate to have a fantastic provider who would be at the forefront of change. There really isn’t any place (very small) place for government in medicine.
PLEASE , medicare was billed and paid Lyncare of Maine $495. a month for over a year to rent a cpap machine for my wife . I bought my own for $900. the same year. They stopped charging the rent after I called and questioned the bill. I think medicare is a good idea but I think the service providers are in need of investigation. How many of us have heard horror stories of the $100. band aids at the local ER’s? Doctors , health care centers , medical equipment rental agencies , pharmacies etc. etc. are raking us all over the coals . We need to say enough is enough and all put a stop to it.
Everyone has to pay into it, no freebees…….
Do you have any idea who their CEO is and how much he earns or are you just spouting off standard liberal bs. If you were in Greece today would you rather have a private health insurance policy or one run by the government? Are you against anyone making a profit or is it that you want to control how much profit someone makes?
LOL, you complain about BS and then start randomly talking about Greece.
The talk of Greece wasn’t random. I’ll connect the dots; the poster I replied to was discussing a single payer system which the Greeks currently particpate in, my question is would he prefer to have coverage from the Greek government or a private insurer? I have yet to see you offer any posts worth responding to. Your mindless rants serve no other purpose than to expose the imbecilic thoughts swirling under your tinfoil hat
Ad hominem attacks, eh? You must have a great point.
There are many countries that use a single payer system, and most of them pay less for services on a per capita basis and still get better paitent outcomes than the US. Greeces problem’s have nothing to do with their healthcare system (most people in Greece don’t pay the taxes they are supposed to, that’s the root of there debt issues), I think the other posters are just wondering why you think they are stupid enough to make the connection you are making.
She always spouts off, just like bangorian… I think they are the same person..LOL..
Making a profit and raking the taxpayer of this country over the coals are two different sides to this story. I’d like to see the taxpayer given a break.
Their CEO is not a “he”. She is a great leader and we should all be thankful that a woman is in charge.
If you spent any amount of quality time with an individual that lives in England (home of the oldest government run health care system in the world), you would find out the positive and negative attributes of a system like the one you want. Most of the attributes are negative. Extremely expensive, and extremely inefficient. The rest of Europe and Canada isn’t much different. My job has brought me to many points around the world, and I have managed become somewhat educated on the different systems. Most have long waits for treatment, minimal choice and input by the patient, and all have contributed to creating VAT taxes, and very high gas taxes which has an adverse effect on the overall economies of these countries. Yes, everyone has coverage, but at what cost? People that can afford supplemental private health insurance, get it because the public system is woefully inadequate for anything other than emergency treatment. If you wish for 10-15% or greater VAT taxes on hard goods, and $8.00 a gallon fuel which will effect every aspect of your life economically, keep supporting what the current Washington leadership is pushing. Yes, the current system is hard broke, and needs serious fixing, but when was the last time you have heard of anything the government gets involved with, working out and making economic sense. The reason for high health care cost’s isn’t the CEO’s salary, (thats a drop in the bucket), it’s all the uncovered people that have inundated the hospitals with myriads of issues which many can be attributed to poor choices in life.
The only thing that will actually work is having a public option that allows people to pay on a sliding scale based on their income. That will go a long way in getting people covered and will provide competition so that the larger companies have to provide better coverage for a reasonable price. This could be done simply by allowing people to buy into Medicaid. It could be run similar to an HMO where people pay $10 for a visit and $5 per prescription. The states should also provide a 24 hour walk in clinic at every busy hospital to combat over use of the Emergency Dept.
That’s not true. The last increase was a year ago. Given health care inflation, this is reasonable. LePage must be doing something right. The only thing in awhile that has changed is LePage relaxing the regulations.
Why can’t the board be bought??? This will set a bad example for the PUC, LURC, and the Gamming commission.
There is no easy answer to the health insurance problem. But as far as I can see it’s going to take care of itself. With rates constantly going up, people will sooner or later start dropping their coverage. When that starts happening, an avalanche affect will start to take place. When people start showingup on the hospital doorstep saying that they have cancer or the like, and they don’t have insurance, the hospitals will start going broke. Only then you will see something done about it. As long as there is money to be made, the system will not change. But sooner or later it will, there will be no choice. It will be crushed under it’s own weight of debt and greed. It’s only a mtter of time. Am I saying a one pay system is better? Not really, I’m just saying that I see it heading that way.
An increase of 18.2% for people over 60 with a $15,000. deductable. So sad ! The deductable is on average $2500. more than a senior living on social security makes in a year. Shame on America ! Shame on the medical community !
Didn’t Matt Gagnon just write a column crowing about huge decreases in insurance premiums come Jul 1?
“Maine Deregulates the insurance market. Premiums fall.” Was the editorial that ran in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. Apparently the Bangor Daily News did not consider it newsworthy that a national publication would cover events in Maine. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304707604577426162012576398.html
Has there EVER been an insurance company that has not turned a profit? Talk about a rip off….maybe if we actually had some competition from other insurance companies in this freaking state- the rates would go down and not up every other month.