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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Maryland's Biggest Health Insurer Wants 25 Percent Rate Increase

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Friday, April 26, 2013   

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Affordable Care Act means insurers can't turn away people who are sick, and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield in Maryland says it needs to boost premiums because of the law.

The state's largest health insurer revealed this week it wants to raise rates for individual policies by 25 percent next year.

Vinny DeMarco, president of the Maryland Citizens Health Initiative, is hopeful the state's insurance commissioner will reject the request.

"The most important thing to understand is these are proposed rates,” DeMarco says. “And the insurance commissioner is going to take a hard look at them."

DeMarco says it's encouraging that other companies have proposed lower increases.

And, he adds, it's important to remember that millions of Americans who don't have health coverage now will get it under the Affordable Care Act.

"I think when people see the end result of the Affordable Care Act,” he says, “they're going to see it will help all Marylanders."

CareFirst issued a statement saying it's doing everything in its power to keep premiums at levels that are as low as possible, given the new rules and regulations.

The public gets 30 days to comment on the proposed rate increases. You can weigh in on the Maryland Insurance Administration's website.







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