Aetna Inc. has withdrawn a rate filing in California that would have increased individual health care insurance rates for 65,000 customers by an average of 19% percent, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced.
The company withdrew its filing after its own actuarial review found "substantial mathematical errors" in calculations used to request the rate increase, Poizner said.
"First, we found major problems with the Anthem Blue Cross rate filing," said Poizner. "Now, additional scrutiny has revealed that Aetna's filing has significant mathematical errors."
In addition to Aetna, Hartford, and Anthem, a subsidiary of WellPoint Inc., Indianapolis, California has received rate increase applications from Health Net Inc., Woodland Hills, Calif. and Blue Shield of California, San Francisco.
As a result of the two reported errors, California's Department of Insurance will post future individual health insurance filings on its Web site, Poizner said.
"I'm hopeful this public disclosure will add additional pressure on insurers to avoid errors," he said.
