DeLauro Reaction to New HHS Report on Insurance Rate Increases

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) released the following statement today in response to the new report issued by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Insurance Companies Prosper, Families Suffer: Our Broken Health Insurance System.

The report focuses on skyrocketing insurance premium rates around the country, and identifies Anthem Blue Cross of Connecticut as having one of the highest requested rate increases in the country. Last summer Anthem requested rate increases averaging 24% across their product lines, reaching up to 32%. Connecticut rejected this rate increase last year, but other states across the country, such as California, are now finding themselves subject to exorbitant requests. There, Anthem Blue Cross recently announced rate increases as high as 39%, even though its parent company made a profit of $2.7 billion in the previous quarter.

Congresswoman DeLauro said, "For close to a year now, we in Congress have been trying to pass comprehensive and meaningful health insurance reform for America's families. This report highlights the two most important reasons why we must act: the skyrocketing costs of health care, which threatens to bankrupt our families and our nation, and the appalling behavior of the health insurance industry, who discriminate against women and people with pre-existing conditions, drop coverage and deny claims, and hike premiums, co-pays, and deductibles just because they can.

"We know the costs of inaction. Health care costs will rise by $1800 each year for the average family. Small businesses will lose over $52 billion in profits to high health care costs over the next decade. Over that time, Americans will face a 50-50 chance of losing their health insurance, and both care and medication will become increasingly unaffordable. This is why we still need health insurance reform today in America, and why we in Congress will continue to work on it until we see it through. Struggling American families have already waited too long."

The complete report is available at www.HealthReform.gov.