Healthcare

The Insurance Cartel Strikes Again

The best argument in the world for a public insurance option:

In the past few days, 114,000 Michigan households have received bad-news letters from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, socking individual health insurance subscribers with premium increases averaging 22%, effective Oct. 1. [...]

Instead, the Blue Cross letters simply stated, “We know every Michigan resident faces financial challenges, and we thank you for your business and loyalty to the Blues.”

This is almost exactly what BCBS did to my small business plan, and I had no other choice but to cancel it.

Anyway, this is the kind of system that the Republicans and Blue Dogs want to preserve. A system that can randomly hike your rates with no explanation. And you have no choice but to pay it. You're a captive. A slave to the cartel. If the Blue Dogs and conservadems have their way, you will be forced by law to finance this criminal enterprise. That's why the public option is essential (it also will also help to lower premiums for private insurance buyers).