In some states, health insurers are raising rates despite health law's efforts to restrain increases

The New York Times details differences in states' ability to regulate rates as well as in premium costs. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports on the savings that New Yorkers could experience.

The New York Times: Health Insurers Raise Some Rates By Double Digits
Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration's health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers. ... Under the health care law, regulators are now required to review any request for a rate increase of 10 percent or more ... The review process not only reveals the sharp disparity in the rates themselves, it also demonstrates the striking difference between places like New York, one of the 37 states where legislatures have given regulators some authority to deny or roll back rates deemed excessive, and California, which is among the states that do not have that ability (Abelson, 1/5).

The Associated Press/Wall Street Journal: NYers To Save $500M On Health Insurance Premiums
Governor Andrew Cuomo says new state power to limit rate hikes will save New Yorkers more than $500 million on health insurance premiums in 2013. Cuomo announced Sunday that health insurers requested average increases of about 12.4 percent, but the state Department of Financial Services cut the average increase to 7.5 percent (1/6).