Obama tells insurer to reverse rate hike

Keep your nose out of other people's business, novel thought for a Marxist, I guess.
========

The Obama administration on Monday called on a Mennonite-owned health insurance company to cancel its proposed 11.6 percent rate hike, marking the first time the government has tried to pressure a private company under the new health care law.

While Pennsylvania-based Everence Insurance said it needs to raise rates on about 5,000 customers to cover costs, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius called the increase “unreasonable,” holding it up as evidence that the government has an important role to play in reining in the cost of coverage.

“This sends a message to insurers around the country that the days of unchecked, double-digit increases are over,” Mrs. Sebelius said.

But Everence officials disputed the methods used by HHS to reach its conclusion, arguing that the agency calculated the plan’s loss ratio over a one-year period, instead of calculating rates based on a two-year period that they said would give a better idea of gains and losses.

MORE