Anthem Blue Cross’ parent called off a meeting with investors that was scheduled for next week to “review its 2010 financial outlook so that executives can prepare for a congressional hearing into its large rate hikes for individual policyholders in California,” states Duke Helfand from the Los Angeles Times. WellPoint Inc. Chief Executive Angela F. Braly has been called to testify next week about the future rate hikes of as much as 39%.
WellPoint has postponed the planned premium increases until May 1, “amid criticisms from consumers, state officials, members of Congress and the Obama administration,” reports Helfand. WellPoint blames the drastic increases on the rising medical costs, and said less than a quarter of individual policyholders would actually suffer from rate increases of 35% to 39%.
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A new study showed that if healthcare reform doesn’t pass, rural residents will suffer substantially. Lynda Waddington from The Iowa Independent states, “Jon Bailey, director of the rural research and analysis program at the Center and author of the study, believes that existing health care policy, or lack of it, places rural people at a disadvantage that will worsen if steps are not taken by Congress.” Bailey went on to say that “the benefits far outweigh the risks of inaction.”
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Michael Milchovich from The Baltimore Sun says, “With all the talk from members of Congress about the federal budget deficit, I would think they would be just as concerned about the budget deficits of middle class families across the country.” Milchovich says the growing costs of healthcare are very much responsible for millions of American families being in debt, and also has led to many of those families being bankrupt. Milchovich says, “No one in a nation as wealthy and powerful as ours should be punished for getting sick.”
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I am not sure how many of the public noticed a provision in the proposed health reform legislation that would have placed a federal tax on cosmetic procedures. The provision was known as the Bo-TAX and it aroused a unified response from the medical community in general and organized medicine in particular. This proposed tax was a clear example of how out of touch the Congress is with the needs of the public. This always happens in government when those who govern make a career of governing rather than serving the electorate.
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Congressional Democrats are trying to move forward with health care reform bit by bit, contrary to their original plan to pass a massive health care reform bill. Chad Pergram from Fox News reports that, “On Friday, two freshmen Democrats plan to unveil a bill to lift the anti-trust exemption that many health insurance companies now enjoy. House Democratic leaders plan to put that bill on the floor next week.”
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