Study: Some states fall short in insurance rate reviews

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Dec 4 2010

A new study finds that states don't always flex their muscle when it comes to regulating insurance rates. Meanwhile, there is movement at the top for WellPoint.

Reuters: Inconsistencies Mar States' Insurance Rate Reviews
The federal healthcare reform law empowered U.S. states to review and fight spikes in insurance rates but state governments inconsistently enforce the law, according to a study released on Thursday (12/2).

The Hill: Some States Fail To Review Unreasonable Insurance Rates, Kaiser finds
Vigilance of unreasonable premium hikes might be lax in some states despite their robust authority to review and approve rates, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation study. (KHN is a program of the Foundation). (Millman, 12/2).

The Wall Street Journal: Two Key WellPoint Executives To Leave
WellPoint Inc. said Thursday that two executives who were involved in controversies that buffeted the insurer during the health-overhaul debate are leaving the company. Cynthia Miller, the company's top actuary, and Bradley Fluegel, its chief of strategy, will depart from the company, WellPoint said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Those senior executives follow Dijuana Lewis, an executive vice president in charge of networking and disease management, who was terminated "without cause" in October, according to a separate filing that month (Johnson, 12/2).

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.