Four largest Massachusetts insurers plan double-digit premium increases for 2007

The four largest health insurers in Massachusetts -- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Tufts Health Plan and Fallon Community Health Plan -- in 2007 are expected for most of their insurance options to raise premiums by at least 10% for the seventh consecutive year, the Boston Globe reports.

The anticipated increases come despite "efforts in recent years to rein in rising costs related to doctors' pay, drug spending, high-tech imaging and surgery," according to the Globe.

Stephen Booma, executive vice president of BCBSM, said, "I feel like Bill Murray in the movie 'Groundhog Day.'

I'm waking up again and telling you the very same thing I did last year and the year before that." Vin Capozzi, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Harvard Pilgrim, said, "Baby boomers are demanding a lot of services, and that's driving costs."

The Globe reports that some employers are likely to switch "to health plans with higher deductibles or [increase] copayments and mak[e] other changes that will result in additional out-of-pocket expenses for employees."

Richard Lord, CEO of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, said, "It's becoming increasingly difficult for employers to offer health insurance for employees when the rates have essentially doubled in the last seven years."

Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, said that premium increases continue to affect families, adding, "What average working people pay out of pocket for premiums has been going up four times faster than wages in recent years" (Krasner, Boston Globe, 9/10).