DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Customers of insurance giant Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield could pay up to $45 a month more for health insurance under a proposal announced Monday by the Des Moines-based company.
Wellmark proposed a 9.35 percent increase for more than 70,000 individual Iowa customers age 65 and under, citing rising health care costs.
"The real reason here is the cost of health care is going up and continues to rise," said David Brown, the company's chief financial officer. "The largest driver is utilization, people are using services more and unfortunately people in Iowa are getting less healthy."
Brown said that is, in part, because of the growing obesity epidemic. Laura Jackson, a vice president of health strategy and policy, said obesity is linked to 20 chronic conditions and cancer and the costs of treating those conditions keeps rising with new treatment innovations.
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