The AP (3/5, Sidoti) reports that HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "told the nation's leading health insurers Thursday to publicly justify a spate of double-digit premium hikes that have infuriated consumers in at least a half dozen states." She met "with the CEOs of WellPoint, Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealth Group, as well as several state insurance commissioners." After asking insurers to post "their justification for proposed rate hikes" online, Sebelius told reporters, "At the very least, we need some transparency. ... We need people to understand what's going on.
The New York Times (3/5, A13, Stolberg, Pear) notes that during the meeting "the president stopped by -- an appearance that was unscheduled, but clearly orchestrated -- to deliver a letter from an Ohio cancer survivor who had dropped her insurance after a 40 percent rate increase."
The Wall Street Journal (3/5, Adamy, Johnson) characterizes the meeting as the administration scolding insurers. For their part, insurers blamed healthcare companies including drugmakers, medical-device makers, and hospitals for driving up healthcare costs, according to the Journal. They also disagreed with Sebelius that they are highly profitable.
The Los Angeles Times (3/5, Sidot) focuses on the rate hikes, noting that "Sebelius has heard from many Americans who are concerned that they will be priced out of the market." Pushing the online justification of rate increases, Sebelius said, "That kind of rate increase is just unacceptable and unsustainable. ... At least the bright spotlight may help to discourage some of these wildly exorbitant increases from occurring."
By the end of the meeting, "the executives emerged saying they felt they were heard when they argued that the price hikes are due to rising medical costs and other factors beyond their control," CQ HealthBeat (3/5, Norman) reports. "But there were no accords or agreements, the executives said, beyond a general consensus that more transparency is needed."
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