Sebelius Calls on Anthem Blue Cross to Publicly Justify 39 Percent Premium Increase

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today (Feb. 11th, 2010), sent a letter to Anthem Blue Cross and called on the company to publicly justify its decision to raise premiums for its California customers by as much as 39 percent. In her letter, Sebelius notes that the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross, WellPoint Incorporated earned $2.7 billion in the last quarter of 2009.