Sternly Worded Letters and Furious Anger

Posted on 02/12/2010 at 9:27 am by Bob Cesca

I can’t believe I missed this story yesterday:

The Obama administration has already sent a sternly-worded letter to Anthem Blue Cross over the company’s excessive rate increase for individual policy holders in California. How excessive? Up to 39 percent. But that’s not all. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield also informed their customers that they are changing their practice of adjusting rates annually, and as of now are reserving the right to raise premiums basically whenever they feel like it.

Here’s the thing, though. How about passing healthcare reform now? Sternly worded letters are fantastic, but they’re toothless unless there’s legislation to “strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger.”

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  • http://politicalpartypooper.wordpress.com/ Political Party Pooper

    Bob, if you replace “strike down” with “smote”, that last sentence will be perfect. :D

  • camel54

    And speaking of showing strength instead of predictably relying on words and little else, the president should use recess appts for the rest of his nominees even though the Republicans went ahead with 23 confirmations. They only did that because they know if he makes recess appts, he will look strong and it will be the news long enough to make them look bad. He should do it anyway. It would be a great way to rally Democrats to him again (to some degree at least) and it would give the Democrats an opportunity to be on camera for a while pointing out the Republicans have negotiated with no intention of giving the president any support, they have blocked important leadership appts, they have been pure disingenuous obstructionists and this is what happens when that’s how you choose to toy with America’s well-being.

  • indyinwc

    Jeez, curiously I went to the website for a quote. The teaser rate for the policy I could afford carries a 10,000.00 deductable. Here Gladys, file this in the “sternly worded letter” file, would you? Gladys: (shred).

  • West of the Cascades

    I think Bob’s alluding to this passage from Ezekiel 25:17 (better known as Jules Winnfield’s favor phrase in “Pulp Fiction”) …And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers.Congress and the President need to go all old-testament on the asses of these insurance company executives …

  • ec

    I don’t understand what Anthem management is up to. They must have known that this move would get bad publicity and would attract the interest of the administration.They had a weak excuse too, which really makes me wonder.

  • http://extremeliberal.wordpress.com/ Jim in Michigan

    I think we are on the verge of seeing the real Barack Obama. I think this first year he had to show the American people that he is willing to try to reach consensus with the Republicans, many of the olive branches they put out they knew the Republic Party would knock away. He’s gathering the ammunition he needs to go it alone and change things. I don’t think he counted on some progressives turning on him, though, but if he had asked me, I would have told him that some bitter Hillary folks were going to be his worst enemy. I knew it was coming from what they said during the campaign. Us lefties wish he had never reached out to them, but the reality is that the non-obsessive voters who only get pieces of the news aren’t partisan, they want a government that works.

  • eljefejeff

    I still like Obama a lot and doesn’t get nearly enough credit for how much he’s accomplished in a little over a year, but there have been too many sternly worded letters.

  • lovetheblue

    Bob, I have a copy of the 5 page letter from Wellpoint responding to Kathleen Sebelius. I would be more than happy to send it to you if you’d like and you can post a link or whatever to it so the folks here can read it. (I work for an insurance broker who represents, among other carriers, Anthem Blue Cross.)If you email me at steelbluefan@aol.com, I will send you the pdf…..

  • http://www.bubblegenius.com pea

    I need someone who isn’t as bored/confused by health care provider gobbledegook to recommend another California health care provider besides Blue Cross/Anthem/Beelzebub. They are my current insurance company and I’d sure like to switch. lovetheblue, any suggestions? I already have a $3k yearly deductible, which BX/A/B already sneakily apply my prescriptions to, which I’d never heard of prior to joining up with them.