By TOM MURPHY and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press Writers
INDIANAPOLIS – Health insurer WellPoint blames the Great Recession and rising medical costs for its planned 39 percent rate increase for some California customers. To President Barack Obama, however, it’s Exhibit A in his campaign to revive the health care overhaul.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who received the company’s explanation in a letter Thursday, said “it remains difficult to understand” how premium increases of that size by can be justified when WellPoint Inc. reported a $2.7 billion profit in the last quarter of 2009.
“This is a stark illustration of what the status quo means for American families,” said White House spokesman Reid Cherlin. “You’d be hard-pressed to find a better example of why reform is so urgent, and it’s going to continue to be part of the case the president makes.”