Summary
For its part, Highmark says it doesn't see the need for another watchdog. "The insurance commissioner has the responsibility to represent consumers' interests," says Highmark spokesperson Michael Weinstein. "Our concern [about [John Yudichak]'s bill] is that we would be creating redundancies and duplication within the government."
Weinstein says the company is sympathetic to customers like [Larry Grumet]. "We recognize any increase is challenging" for consumers, he says. "It's a critical issue." But the company isn't trying to gouge customers, he says: "We're seeing health-care costs increase nationally at 8, 9,10 percent a year. The main reason for the [rate] increases has to do with higher costs associated with these programs."In the meantime, [Marc Stier] says, insurers are partly to blame for the spiraling costs they complain about. He says that many customers can't afford insurance, or can't get it because of pre-existing medical conditions; as a result, they wait longer to seek treatment and often end up visiting emergency rooms, where care is more expensive. Insurers are "part of the problem," Stier says. "But they don't see that." Instead, he contends, "The model now is to restrict care and restrict coverage."See the full content of this document
Extract
Policy Issues
LARRY GRUMET WON'T deny the quality of his family's healthinsurance coverage. What he takes issue with is its affordability.
For much of the past 10 years, the 63-year-old Squirrel Hill resident has seen his family's premiums soar, even while his insur-er's profits have remained high. But with more increases scheduled to hit his wallet, as well as those of hundreds of thousands of other Pennsylvanians, Gru...See the full content of this document
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