It's a good thing that horrible public option was never given a chance by the White House. I mean really. Who would ever have gone with that option when they could be gouged early and often by the insurance industry? What red-blooded American doesn't like to get shafted by Big Insurance and proudly wave the flag because they kept "socialism" at bay? Corporate socialism is great though! Thankfully Big Insurance can count on Obama and a few key Democrats and a slimy "independent" to protect consumers from having the chance to receive a better deal.
The report released Thursday by Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, found that seven of 10 Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates examined had amassed surpluses more than three times the level regulators deemed necessary for them to remain solvent.
For instance at the close of 2009, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona had a surplus of $717 billion, more than seven times the regulatory minimum. The same year the company raised premiums for its individual market customers between 8.8 percent and 18.4 percent.
Similarly, Regence Blue Shield of Oregon had about 3.6 times the regulatory minimum surplus, yet it raised rates on some individual policies an average of 25.3 percent in April 2009 and 16 percent in April of this year, the study found.
