The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Individual Health Insurance Rates Skyrocketing

Jun 8, 2015

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan requested permission to raise its rates on individual policies by almost 12 per cent. They already were allowed to raise their rates by nearly 10% last year. If they get anything near what they’re asking for, rates will have gone up by around 20% in two years!

Whose incomes have gone up by 20% in the last two years? Certainly not anyone stuck buying individual health insurance. And that doesn’t even account for increasing costs associated with high deductibles and co-pays connected to most individual plans.

Blue Cross is hardly alone in jacking up rates. HealthPlus of Michigan, Consumers Mutual of Michigan, and United Healthcare requested 35.8%, 20.5% and 15.2% jumps, respectively. Insurers around the country are requesting similar or larger rate hikes, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The so-called "Affordable Care Act" looks like a blank check for the insurance companies to gouge individual customers. That should be no surprise, since the insurance industry wrote the bill!