Aetna becomes California's third insurer to scale back rate hikes

Meanwhile, a new insurance market trend is picking up steam as one of the nation's largest employer-benefits consulting firms announced that it will launch a private exchange for large companies.

Los Angeles Times: Aetna To Scale Back Health Insurance Rate Hikes
A third major California health insurer has agreed to scale back insurance rate hikes this year for thousands of customers after postponing the increases for 60 days at the request of the state's insurance commissioner (Helfand, 4/28).

The San Francisco Chronicle: Aetna Agrees To Lower Rates
Yet another health insurer — this time, Aetna — has agreed to reduce its proposed rate increases in the face of increased scrutiny. About 43,000 Aetna members with individual policies will see an average 12.2 percent rate increase July 1, scaled back from the insurer's originally proposed 17.9 percent average rate hike (4/28).

Kaiser Health News: Some Employees Already Sending Workers To Exchanges To Buy Health Insurance
The private exchanges, mainly run by former insurance executives and employee benefit consulting firms, operate in more than 20 states. While representing only a tiny fraction of workplaces, the movement may be about to grow: One of the nation's largest employer-benefits consulting firms — Aon Hewitt — said Wednesday it will launch of an exchange aimed at large companies. It hopes to have at least 100,000 workers enrolled by early next year (Appleby, 4/29).