Does this make sense?

Anthem Blue Shield has been in the news a lot lately. Almost none of it good because they have decided that they need to raise their rates on their individual insurance policies. The rates, by the way for individuals, are going up about 39% according to the reports I've been reading.

Today, it was confirmed that for small businesses, the rates are going up at an even higher rate. In some cases, a whopping 76%.

Anthem Blue Shield's press flack tried to justify the rate hikes in a statement where he said,
"We lose membership because fewer people can afford to get it,... It does not help us. We only do it to be able to collect enough money to pay out."

Let's see if this makes sense. The economy has caused people and businesses to cancel their policies. Because they are too expensive. So the solution is... to make them more expensive.

Got to love the insurance industry logic. First you can't buy insurance if you have a health issue (or conversely, you can only buy health insurance if you do not need it). Now, because they are so expensive, they have to raise their rates, to make it even more unaffordable for people.

The Obama plans (because now there is the Senate proposal, the House proposal, and the Administration's proposals) are all flawed. But that does not mean that the GOP has it right either (and the Wall Street Journal's suggestion, that health care costs are not at crisis levels and that it is a phony issue, is ludicrous). Something needs to be done. But it needs to be something that will not break the bank.

Otherwise, even this "regulated" market we have is going to price more and more people out of having health care.