Kaiser Rolls Back Rate Increases!

Thanks to the work of thousands of members of NUHW and the Courage Campaign, Kaiser Permanente has partially rolled back rate increases on over 300,000 Californians!

From The San Francisco Chronicle:

Kaiser Permanente has retroactively rolled back rate increases that went into effect for small businesses on July 1 by 1.2 percent.

The welcomed — albeit small — bit of news for thousands of California enrollees comes after a bit of wrangling with the state regulators.

Kaiser in April had proposed a 10.7 percent rate hikes for the bulk of its small business customers. The state Department of Managed Health Care, armed with a new law that allows them to scrutinize actuarial data behind the rate filings, pushed back.

From NUHW’s press release:

In June, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) and the Courage Campaign submitted formal letters of complaint to the Governor’s office regarding Kaiser’s plans to boost these consumers’ monthly premiums by an average 10.7 percent. The complaint letters requested an examination of Kaiser’s rate hike by the DMHC and explained that Kaiser’s rate review filings to the DMHC “demonstrate significant data deficiencies, and the evidence they do contain makes it hard for anyone to conclude that the rate hikes are justified.” The letters cited Kaiser’s failure to disclose information about its massive profits ($5.7 billion since the beginning of 2009) and executive compensation practices as well as its failure to provide historical data on prior rate hikes. Furthermore, the letters noted that Kaiser sought rate hikes that were more than triple the rate of medical cost inflation.

Kaiser’s decision to roll back its rate increases, described in this sample letter to customers, follows a review of the HMO’s rate hikes by DMHC conducted as requested in the letter from NUHW and the Courage Campaign. Kaiser’s letter states that “Kaiser Permanente has undergone a highly complex rate filing and review with the Department of Managed Health Care. As a result, we’ve agreed to this small rate reduction.”

Congratulations to NUHW members, Courage Campaign activists, and the hundreds of thousands of Californians who will benefit from Kaiser’s being held accountable to the public instead of to corporate greed!