As an example, was it last year (?) they announced 6.8% increases. Checking a few small business turned up values around 14.3% or 14.7%. No, it’s not a scientific survey, but it makes the 6.8% look exceedingly suspicious.

HMSA is a big advertiser. Huge, in fact. So I don’t expect any serious investigative reporting.

It’s not just the rate increases. There’s always a question of whether they figure investment income into the reports of “losses”. The Insurance Commissioner now takes the investment income into account, and you see the value mentioned in the Star-Bulletin story because it was low. Check past stories.

There’s a thing called the “underwriting cycle” in which insurers keep rates down to gain market share and then cry about losses to increase rates. And then they do it over again. Hawaii is slightly different since HMSA has a near-monopoly of the non-HMO business (which goes to Kaiser). Still, their actuaries are hard at work to ensure that their executives remain well-compensated.

If challenged, HMSA remarks about the small percentage they take. True, but remember, that’s all taken out of the healthcare market. That’s right, insurers don’t provide health care. Doctors, nurses and hospitals do. What insurers do is rake money out of the healthcare system for their own benefit.