Shocking News: California Health Insurance Companies Raise Rates To Comply With Government Mandates

The San Francisco Chronicle ran a front-page, above-the-fold story the other day about a shocking new phenomenon: California insurance companies are raising health insurance premiums (some for the second time this year) to adjust for changes mandated by Obamacare and some new state laws. Liberals, poli-sci majors, and community organizers are baffled as to how this could have happened.

Some health insurers are bumping up rates yet again to reflect changes mandated by the new federal health overhaul law as well as state reforms that will go into effect Jan. 1.

Blue Shield of California, for example, has sent letters informing customers with individual policies that their premiums will go up in the low single digits because of the federal law.

Some of those same policyholders also could see their rates go up as much as an additional 17.7 percent to account for a new state law that will prohibit insurers from charging women more for insurance than men.

For consumers, many of whom already have been hit this year with hefty premium increases to accommodate higher medical costs, the additional raise attributed to health reform will further strain their budgets.

Gee, ya think?

California, which can never seem to leave well enough in the quest for progress and equality, passed a law last year forbidding insurance company acturialists from taking into account gender in setting premiums. Women, you see, (and might expect) tend to use more health care services than men. But, we wouldn't want women to have to pay more! The Chronicle tries to explain this away:

While women tend to use more services in their younger years, the difference often evens out as people age.

Well, that settles that. Naturally, staff writer Victoria Colliver does not cite anybody or anything to support this. I guess it's one of those bits of information that "everyone" knows.

If you don't mind my making the personal political for a second, I have received a notice of premium increase from Kaiser. My monthly premiums (for just my daughter and me) have gone up about 15%, with Kaiser gallantly crediting Obamacare and the "gender parity" law for much of the increase. That's a real kick in the wallet, and really makes you start to wonder if paying monthly premiums in the amount of hundreds of dollars is really worth it, especially when the Free Will budget is already straining from just my rent and student loans. I would imagine I am not unique in feeling this way. Hey, liberals and Obama fanboys, riddle me this? Where's that utopia you guys were talking about?

I am not gonna sit around and act shocked by all this. It was easy to predict that Obamacare would result in increased premiums, not decreases, contrary to what everybody from the President on down said. But, for those "independents" and Blue Dog Democrat types who actually thought health care reform might be a net positive, I have to wonder if this will finally break their habit of looking to Big Government liberalism for succor. If this doesn't cure then of that, nothing will.