Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced Monday that the public hearing regarding Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield’s proposed premium hike, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 17, should be postponed because the insurance company failed to provide “critical evidence” to support raising premiums of some policies as much as 20 percent.
In a written statement, Blumenthal said that Anthem should have provided the Insurance Department with facts supporting its claim that medical costs in the state will increase in the double-digits, including the methodology used to arrive at that projection. He also said the company should provide historical costs of the affected policy types and how much of the premium costs are spent on surplus and how much are paid to its parent company.
“This public hearing will be a mirage without critical data on this massive 20 percent rate hike,” he said. “The Insurance Department must delay or deny this rate increase until it can properly review and analyze all the facts.”
Blumenthal went on to say that, even if the requested information arrived at the Insurance Department today, there would not be time to adequately review it before Wednesday’s hearing.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s office said that the decision on whether to delay the hearing is made by a hearing officer at the Insurance Department who is waiting for Anthem to respond to the statement. She speculated that a decision on the matter will likely be made late on Tuesday. On Monday a spokesperson for Anthem declined to comment on the specifics of the Attorney General’s statement.
