Tonik California Rate Increase Delayed Again

By: Naya Jones

Tonik members in California can breath another sigh of relief as Anthem Blue Cross of California has pushed back the controversial insurance rate high again.

Why the Rate Increase for Tonik?

You may remember that in January 2010 some Tonik members were told their prices were to increase. Anthem Blue Cross said this was due to the increased cost of paying member claims for Tonik and their other health insurance plans.  There was a lot of negative feedback regarding the rate increase. Obama and many politicians including Gubernatorial candidate Steve Pozner, claimed that the increased rates were unfair. Anthem agreed to postpone the March rate action until May 2010 to let an independent group review the requested new rates to see if they were justified. Medicoverage sent out an update to our members explaining the Blue Cross rate action.  Since then we have been waiting to hear if Anthem would indeed raise health insurance premiums.

Will California Tonik Raise Rates in May 2010?

The short answer is: NOT YET!!!!  We haven’t seen the results of the independent analysis so know one knows if the original proposed rate increase will stick. All we know is that for now Tonik members who were slated for March rate hikes will not see prices go up in May as had been previously announced.  This time, however, they did not select a date for when rates may go up.  This should mean that if they do intend to raise rates in the future, they will have to give members 30 day notice.  We will send out emails to all our Tonik members who may be affected by any future rate increase.

If you currently have Tonik and would like to explore alternatives to your current plan, please contact our independent health insurance agentsor visit our health plan quoting tool.