BY JIM HALL
Beginning next week, Nancy Bailey will pay $416 a month for health insurance, more than a third higher than what she's paying now.
Bailey is among thousands of Virginians who are experiencing double-digit increases in health premiums from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
The price increases are similar to the ones that President Obama and others criticized when WellPoint, Anthem's parent company, imposed them this month in California.
WellPoint says its price increases are necessary because many of its healthier customers have dropped coverage or chosen cheaper plans during the economic downturn.
"That's a portrait of the future if we don't do something now," Obama said, referring to the passage of health care reform legislation.
Bailey, 59, is a clinical psychologist in Fredericksburg and a resident of Stafford County.
Since she is in private practice, she does not have coverage through an employer or group plan. Instead, she buys a policy directly from Anthem.
"It's the biggest drawback to being self-employed," she said.
Bailey bought an individual KeyCare plan but switched to an individual KeyCare Health Savings Account plan in 2007. Anthem says its health savings account plan has one of its lowest premiums.
Bailey said that Anthem has raised her premiums each year, though this year was the largest yet.
"Obviously, the thing that's different if you have individual policies is you have no negotiating power," she said.
Don Chiappinelli, a licensed clinical social worker in Fredericksburg, has the same KeyCare HSA plan that Bailey has. Like Bailey, Chiappinelli is self-employed and buys coverage directly from Anthem. His premium will increase by 38 percent on March 1.
Anthem is the largest health insurer in Virginia with 3 million customers. The majority of its members purchase coverage through their employers or the government.
But the company also markets 12 plans directly to individuals. About 13 million Americans purchase their health coverage this way.
An Anthem spokesman declined to say how many Virginians, like Bailey and Chiappinelli, purchase individual policies from the company.
However, Anthem's filings with the State Corporation Commission list more than 80,000 individual policyholders.
The spokesman also declined to say what the average premium increase has been for these customers.
However, last fall the SCC granted Anthem rate increases for seven of its individual plans.
The KeyCare Flexible Choice plan, for example, is one of Anthem's most popular individual plans. On Oct. 1, its premiums increased an average of 15.3 percent, following a 5 percent average increase last April.
The KeyCare HealthSmart plan goes up an average of 7 percent in April, following a 21 percent average increase in December.
The KeyCare HSA plan, which Bailey and Chiappinelli buy, increased an average of 15 percent in October, after a 17 percent average increase last April.
Within plans, rates vary by the customer's age, gender, residence and health, said Scott Golden, spokesman.
"No two people are going to have the same exact premium," he said.
Typically, customers see premium increases once a year on the anniversary of when they first bought their policies. Bailey's anniversary date is March 1.
In December, she received a letter from Anthem notifying her of the upcoming price hike.
"We are required by law to notify any policyholder 60 days in advance if the anticipated increase in their premium will be 35 percent or greater," the letter said.
Later, she received notice that her new premium will be $416 per month, up from $308 now.
In California, WellPoint, Anthem's parent company, told the state that it intended to raise premiums by up to 39 percent for some customers who buy coverage in the individual market.
President Obama criticized the increases, as did Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who called them "extraordinary."
California's insurance commissioner said he would hire an independent auditor to review WellPoint's plan. The company agreed to delay the increases until May.
Asked if Anthem would delay its increases in Virginia, Golden said, "At this time there is nothing pending."
WellPoint had revenues of $61 billion in 2008, up slightly from 2007. Its net income for the year was $2.5 billion, down from $3.3 billion the year before.
Bailey said this week that she plans to continue her Anthem coverage. Chiappinelli said he's not sure what he'll do.
"I will probably go shopping," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Jim Hall: 540/374-5433
Email: jhall@freelancestar.com