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
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
June 8, 2015
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan requested permission to raise its rates on individual policies by almost 12%. 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!