Health Insurance in MIchigan

Sen. Tom George, chair of the committee examining proposed changes to the Michigan individual health insurance market, attempted to reach compromises by asking that only policies that have the greatest support and provide the most benefit to Michigan residents be. adopted

The fight is driven by health insurance plans held by over 300 thousand Michigan residents who are forced to buy their own health insurance coverage as they lose jobs or as employers drop coverage for their employees.

The question is...whether the individual health insurance market in Michigan is growing as fast as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) has predicted, or is there time to more carefully sign effective policies for health insurance consumers.

Pointing to large profits of private health insurance companies in Michigan, Cook said that the companies "are fighting changes in Michigan that will make them take a larger share" of the responsibility for providing health insurance to Michigan residents.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan rate calcualtion critized

a nationally renowned health insurance expert testified at a consumer hearing that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan used flawed, inappropriate methods to determine proposed rate hikes at issue in a consumer challenge.

James Geyer, former chief actuary for Aetna Inc., said BCBSM methods resulted in a substantial overstatement of its losses from its individual health insurance policies purchased by individuals without employer sponsored coverage, participation in these policies is growing as employers drop workplace health insurance benefits.

BCBSM earlier this year sought a 24% increases, on average, for these individual health insurance policies. Blue Cross was granted a 10% interim rate hike, which took effect June 1. The rate hikes affect roughly 19,000 people in 7 Blue Cross individual health plans. Blue Cross says the rate hikes are needed to offset losses in the individual health business, which totaled $52 million over 10 years.

If BCBSM had performed a more precise analysis of growth in the value plans the insurer would either break even or make $1.3 million, Geyer said, instead of incurring as much as $13 million in losses from the lines of business in question.