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November 19, 2009

Your Health Insurance Dollar Goes Somewhere In Oregon

Rick Attig, The Oregonian:

It's hard to know what to make of the report in Wednesday's Oregonian that regulators have signed off on every rate increase by Oregon's largest health insurance companies over the past three years, reducing their requests in only seven of 40 cases.

It is striking that there is so little public attention or debate given to insurance rate-setting in Oregon.

By contrast, there are large, long and very public fights over utility rates in Oregon, which are overseen by the Public Utility Commission. In those cases, ratepayers have a fierce advocate on their side -- the Citizens Utility Board -- and business groups and other rate-paying entities also are strongly represented in PUC rate cases.

I don't have the answer either but I'm reminded of a something one of Thomas Pynchon's characters in one of his amazing books once said:

If you get them asking the wrong questions, you don't have to worry about the answers.

Years of watching what people consider important to argue about makes me think that there's a lot of misdirection going on.

The news report that Mr. Attig referred to not only drew the line between what amounts to a nearly regulation-free "pass through" attitude toward insurance rates at the State, but also, helpfully, lists the changes in compensation for those at the top of the insurers. Which makes for chewy food for thought – that has a slightly sour taste to it.

Like, for instance, did you know that Oregon's Kaiser supremo:

got a 59.2 percent boost in compensation last year, including a $142,049 bonus and $69,825 in other pay on top of his $479,956 salary.

It was to bring his salary more in line with his peers, don'tchaknow, because $434K (his 2007 salary) just doesn't stretch as far as it used to, and when him and the other CEOs get together for playdates all his chums point and laugh because of his low compensation package.

Life's unfair. I know. I can certainly relate there.

Between this and Wall Street honchos getting perferential treatment to access to H1N1 vaccine, I'm starting to think that maybe they aren't spending as much on P.R. as they used to. Or maybe they just don't care what anyone thinks anymore.

Posted by The Chinuk at November 19, 2009 03:13 AM