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Day two of David Pecker testimony wraps in NY Trump trial; Supreme Court hears arguments on Idaho's near-total abortion ban; ND sees a flurry of campaigning among Native candidates; and NH lags behind other states in restricting firearms at polling sites.

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The Senate moves forward with a foreign aid package. A North Carolina judge overturns an aged law penalizing released felons. And child protection groups call a Texas immigration policy traumatic for kids.

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Wyoming needs more educators who can teach kids trade skills, a proposal to open 40-thousand acres of an Ohio forest to fracking has environmental advocates alarmed and rural communities lure bicyclists with state-of-the-art bike trail systems.

Big Profit Motives for WA’s Biggest Health Insurers?

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Friday, January 11, 2008   

Seattle, WA – The three largest health insurers in Washington are socking away record amounts of surplus cash. A group of community organizations doesn't like that. It says not only do the firms appear to be charging too much, but at the same time that the insurers are raising rates, they are paying out less money in claims.

The Northwest Federation of Community Organizations and the Washington Community Action Network came to this conclusion after looking at profit, surplus and claims payment data reported over a five-year period by Group Health Cooperative, Premera Blue Cross and Regence BlueShield. As a result, NFCO and WCA will ask the legislature for more state oversight of the industry. The groups also want an affordable public insurance pool as an alternative for individuals and small businesses.

Julie Chinitz, health policy analyst for NFCO, prepared a report on the groups' findings. She says she found plenty of evidence, such as the amount of profit the companies made per person, per month.

"When we combined the carriers to measure this, we saw that in 2003, they made a profit of $8.78 per member each month. By 2006, they were making a profit of $18.23 each month, for each covered person."

Insurance companies say their rate hikes are based on rising medical costs. While that may be true, Chinitz counters that the data showed a 16 percent hike in medical costs, while at the same time, insurance premiums rose 23 percent. She adds that from 2002 to 2006, the cash surplus figures for the three companies more than doubled.

"This is occurring in the context of some pretty alarming premium increases and persistent uninsured rates. The overall picture we walk away with is one of mismatch. What's good right now for the health insurers is not necessarily good for the public."

The report, "Insuring Health or Ensuring Profit?" can be found online at
www.nwfco.org.






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