Newly proposed legislation would establish a federal rate review to allow the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to block unreasonable rate increases, reported The Hill's Healthwatch. HHS can only declare rate hikes unreasonable, but can't actually prevent insurers from implementing them.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced the bill Wednesday after a similar measure failed to pass in the last Congressional session. "In California and 14 other states, consumers continue to face unreasonable health insurance rate hikes," Feinstein said in a statement. "Regulators in these states lack the authority to block or modify these unjustified increases in the individual and small group markets, even when they are found to be excessive," she noted. Article