[Peace-discuss] Fw: Blue Cross on the defensive

Tue Feb 16 11:02:13 CST 2010

--- On Mon, 2/15/10, Kat Barr, MoveOn.org Political Action <moveon-help at list.moveon.org> wrote:

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Click here to add your name: 

"Anthem Blue Cross must provide a detailed explanation for their exorbitant rate increases, or else roll them back immediately." 

Sign the petition
Since Friday, nearly 200,000 MoveOn members have signed a petition demanding a public explanation from Blue Cross of their plan to jack up rates by as much as 39% for some customers.
The pressure is working. Blue Cross has just announced they'll delay the increase by two months—a big signal that the outcry is making them uncomfortable.1
But a short delay isn't enough—and the company is still providing no explanation for this ridiculous rate hike. They're hoping this small concession will appease the public, so we've got to show them that they're wrong.
Will you sign the petition today? Clicking here will add your name and show Big Insurance that these abuses have to stop:
http://pol.moveon.org/bluecross/o.pl?id=18940-10635882-iQ_2G3x&t=3
Below is the email we sent last week with the full story. Check it out, and forward this to your friends—the bigger the public response, the stronger the message to Big Insurance that customers won't stand for abusive practices like this.
Thanks for all you do.
–Kat, Michael, Carrie, Stephen, and the rest of the team

Dear MoveOn member,
Blue Cross has just announced that it's immediately raising premiums charged to hundreds of thousands of individual customers by as much as 39%—even though their parent company's profits soared to a record $4.7 billion last year.2
Even worse, the insurer has so far refused to explain why they're increasing their rates, and warned that they might do so again this year without warning.
The Obama administration is demanding answers from Anthem Blue Cross, and Congress has opened an investigation.3 But Blue Cross is only going to respond if this story becomes a major public-relations problem for them.
So it's time to turn up the heat. Let's join the growing call for an explanation and send a powerful public message that these abuses by Big Insurance are unacceptable.
Clicking here will add your name to the petition:
http://pol.moveon.org/bluecross/o.pl?id=18940-10635882-iQ_2G3x&t=4
The petition says: "Anthem Blue Cross must provide a detailed explanation for their exorbitant rate increases, or else roll them back immediately."
These latest rate increases in California—reportedly the largest ever by Blue Cross for individual policyholders in the state—are yet another powerful example of how badly broken our health care system is and how desperately we need to hold Big Insurance accountable for exploiting their customers.
Anthem Blue Cross's parent company made record profits last year despite losing 1.4 million customers—increasing their profit margins by cherrypicking the healthiest people to insure.4
Then they can turn around and dramatically increase the rates they charge to the customers they've kept, because there are almost no rules governing rate increases. In fact, the company doesn't even have to publicly reveal how many customers' rates they've increased, or by how much.
The good news is that Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services, is already publicly demanding answers from the company. And the House Energy and Commerce Committee has announced plans to hold hearings to investigate.
But to get Anthem to clean up their act—and show politicians and the media that we can't afford any more abuses by Big Insurance—we all need to lend our voices. Clicking here will add your name to the petition:
http://pol.moveon.org/bluecross/o.pl?id=18940-10635882-iQ_2G3x&t=5
Thanks for all you do.
–Kat, Michael, Carrie, Stephen, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Anthem Blue Cross to delay rate increases," The Los Angeles Times, February 14, 2010 
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86473&id=18940-10635882-iQ_2G3x&t=6
2. "Anthem Blue Cross dramatically raising rates for Californians with individual health policies," The Los Angeles Times, February 4, 2010 
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86432&id=18940-10635882-iQ_2G3x&t=7
"WellPoint sees profit grow eightfold in fourth quarter," The Los Angeles Times, January 28, 2010 
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86433&id=18940-10635882-iQ_2G3x&t=8
3. "Sebelius Calls on Anthem Blue Cross to Publicly Justify 39 Percent Premium Increase," U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, February 8, 2010 
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/02/20100208c.html
"Congress opens probe into Anthem Blue Cross rate increases," The Los Angeles Times, February 10, 2010 
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86434&id=18940-10635882-iQ_2G3x&t=9
4. "Waxman and Stupak to WellPoint: We Request Your Testimony," Office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, February 9, 2010 
http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=2149 

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PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to Jenifer Cartwright on February 15, 2010. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.  

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