OPINION --Oregon health insurers have proposed rate hikes as high as 32.3% for next year, the second year in a row of big double-digit increases. Not only is this outrageous, it’s also unsustainable. Thanks to you, since 2010, we’ve already helped cut over $179 million in waste from health insurance premiums.1 Now we need your help again.
Tell state officials: Closely scrutinize these rate hikes, and take action to protect consumers.
For the past month, we’ve been digging into rate hike proposals from five of Oregon’s top insurers.2 In short, their costs have been higher than expected, and most of them lost money in 2015. While it’s not unreasonable for insurance companies to want to raise rates when they’re losing money, we're concerned that these increases may be far too big. That’s why we want the state to take a closer look.
This is especially concerning because while insurance companies are proposing double digit rate increases, Oregon's large hospitals and health systems are recording record surpluses. For example, Providence Health & Services, the state's largest hospital chain, is sitting on nearly $6 billion in cash reserves while its insurer affiliate, Providence Health Plan, wants to raise rates by nearly 30%..
Help us make sure next year’s health insurance prices are reasonable and justified.
These rate hikes also highlight something else: at least one-third of health care spending is waste, and the health care industry as a whole needs to do more to trim it down.4
While we know there's more insurance companies can do to contain costs by cutting waste and investing in keeping people healthy, we also know that it's long past time for the rest of the health care system to pull its weight. We're calling on state leaders in Salem to take action to hold the health care industry accountable for keeping their prices reasonable and sustainable. Oregon consumers can't take yet another year of huge rate hikes.
Tell the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services: Stand up for consumers and push back on overpriced health care.
Jesse O'Brien is the health policy advocate for OSPIRG.
