HHS Secretary Sebelius is warning insurers’ Medicare Advantage contracts not to increase premium rates for their beneficiaries. This is ahead of insurers’ submissions of plans to the feds yesterday. The memo also comes on the heels of many Congressional Democrats asking the government to evaluate thoroughly the cost of those plans.

The issue of overpayments to insurers by the government is of prime concern to Sebelius and the White House. But, not according to the AHIP — which is lobbying for increased rates at which the feds pay them. The AHIP says that stagnant rate schedules from 2010-2011 and pending cuts to the insurers who contract with CMS based upon the new reform law essentially forces them to push for greater payments. It’s a classic let-the-market-run-itself scenario versus the continued fleecing of the largest subsidized healthcare coverage program in the country; and there are probably elements of both at play at any given time. | LINK

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