While Congress grinds to a halt, the PPACA keeps chugging along:
The Obama administration will soon take over the review of health insurance rates in 10 states where it says state officials do not adequately regulate premiums for insurance sold to individuals or small businesses. Starting Sept. 1, federal and state officials will begin to scrutinize proposed rate increases of more than 10 percent to determine if they are justified. White House officials say their ability to publicize excessive, unreasonable rates will be a major protection for consumers under President Obama’s health care law. At least one state, Iowa, has protested the federal decision and asked administration officials to reconsider.
Several other states acknowledged that they lacked the power under state law to review health insurance rates. Several insurance commissioners tried and failed to get such authority from their state legislatures this year. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana and Wyoming — do not have effective rate review programs for either individual or small-group health insurance, so federal officials will do the reviews in both markets, the administration said.In three other states — Iowa, Pennsylvania and Virginia — the federal government will review proposed rate increases for small groups and will allow states to review individual rates.
James J. Donelon, the Louisiana insurance commissioner, said: “I cannot quarrel with the federal finding. We do not have any authority to regulate health insurance rates under Louisiana law. I am a Republican,” Mr. Donelon added. “I believe in competition as the best way to protect consumers from unreasonable rates. But I have no way of knowing whether they are reasonable or unreasonable because companies have not been required to file rate increases with our department.”
He’s well-intentioned, he runs a regulatory agency, has a title, and he “believes” in competition.
All he lacked were the rules, and the rates. Other than that, it was going great.