Public Hearing On Insurance Rate Hikes Begins Today

State regulators convene a public hearing today on a high profile health insurance rate case. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has asked for a 20% rise in rates for individual policies. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.

This hearing takes place just days after the departure of the insurance commissioner who scheduled it. Thomas Sullivan came under extraordinary pressure after allowing Anthem to raise rates on new business by up to 47%, and bowed to calls for a more transparent process in future rate cases. But he’s since taken up a private sector job, leaving newly appointed interim director Barbara Spear to handle this proceeding. To complicate matters further, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who’s been granted the right to take part in the hearing, has called for it to be delayed, saying Anthem has failed to file sufficient paperwork to support its case. The largest physicians’ organization in the state, the Connecticut State Medical Society, will not be allowed to ask questions at the hearing. Vice president Matthew Katz says medical costs are a key element in Anthem’s request.

“You would expect then that physicians would be necessary as part of the hearing process to determine whether or not they have seen increases in payments from Anthem. And you would expect that patients should be necessary as well. And to deny the Connecticut State Medical Society the opportunity to represent its members, the physicians of Connecticut, and their patients, seems to be counter to the mission of the department of insurance.”

Even governor elect Dan Malloy has weighed in on the issue, calling on the insurance department to reject the rate hike. He wrote to commissioner Spear Tuesday, saying Connecticut families would be best served by a hiatus on insurance rate increases, and that the rising cost of healthcare is linked to Connecticut’s ability to attract and keep jobs.

For WNPR, I'm Harriet Jones.