I got an unexpected present after turning 70 in December — a 35 percent premium increase on my Medigap insurance from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.
The notice came with no explanation, and I can understand why. I'm on Medicare and I have no chronic illnesses so I bought a relatively cheap "gap" policy to cover the 20 percent of doctors bills that Medicare doesn't cover. I pay $40 a month and the first $2,700 or so in annual bills would be my problem.
The bottom line is that I'm not costing my insurer anything. In addition, the D.C. subsidiary alone is sitting on a nearly $1 billion cash surplus. So why did they raise my monthly rate to $54 starting April 1?
The first person who answered the phone said he didn't know why but told me everyone's rates were going up. After I complained via e-mail to Del. Shane Pendergrass, a Howard County Democrat and one of my representatives in the House of Delegates, I got a quick phone call from CareFirst.
She explained that 25 percent of the increase was due to my being a man who just turned 70 and the other 10 percent was a general rate increase. She said a few elderly people's premiums actually declined, but I told her my 65-year old wife got an increase too. When I pointed out that I'm not sick, have a high deductible and the Blues are swimming in "non-profit cash," she said she isn't equipped to discuss actuarial theory with me. I thanked her for the information.
One day, the increasingly profitable insurance and drug industries are going to increase their rates to a point where even the Affordable Care Act won't save them from a single-payer health care system that actually makes sense.
Larry Carson, Columbia