Political Quotes

“I think in the testimony that you talked about here in Congress--and I know in California that when Blue Cross Anthem raised their rates about 39 percent on the average, or 39 percent maximum, about 25 percent on the average, and then had done that previously just in the previous year, so it's actually--the 2-year period is actually 12 months over 2 years, 2 calendar years. What happened, the profits of the company went from about $300 million to over $2.2 billion profit. And that's probably why this CEO came before--and correctly, because I suspect she was under oath; you don't lie to Congress--told that she now has a $2 million salary plus an $8 million bonus because she was able, by raising the rates, to obtain a higher bonus for herself and obviously an extraordinary increase in the profitability of the company. Now, if this bill passes, there will be a national standard for rate increases. It also says that if the State governments--and many State governments already do this--that they will be able to continue their rate regulation process. Now, in California, as insurance commissioner in 1991, there was a proposition passed that set up a rate regulation system for the property, casualty. This is auto and homeowner and business insurance. It didn't cover health insurance. But the effect of that rate regulation over a 20-year period as described by the Consumers Union is over a $30 billion savings to consumers.…”