In California, Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna and PacifiCare agree to 60-day rate hike delay

Blue Shield of California has still not agreed to the state health insurance commissioner's request to delay the planned hikes.

Los Angeles Times: 3 Health Insurers Agree To 60-Day Delay On Rate Hikes
Three of California's largest health insurers have agreed to delay for 60 days planned rate hikes for thousands of customers after state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones asked for time to review the increases (Ceasar and Helfand, 1/27).

San Francisco Chronicle: Health Insurers Agree To Hold Off On Rate Hikes; Blue Shield Continues To Defy Request
Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna and PacifiCare have all agreed to delay their proposed health premium increases for 60 days, leaving Blue Shield of California as the lone holdout, according to the California Department of Insurance. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said he was pleased that the three insurers agreed to his request to hold off on the increases (Colliver, 1/27).

The Sacramento Bee: 3 Health Insurers Agree To California Commissioner's Request To Delay Rate Hikes
Hundreds of thousands of Californians won at least a temporary reprieve from escalating health premiums Thursday when three of the state's largest insurers agreed to delay rate hikes. But the company that launched the latest round of headlines about escalating rates, Blue Shield, stood by its decision to go forward with a March 1 increase that will raise rates on nearly 200,000 individual policyholders, some by as much as 59 percent. Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross and PacifiCare said they would delay previously announced rate increases for at least 60 days (Calvan, 1/28).