State highlights: Blue Shield Of Calif. rate hike called ‘excessive’; Fla. Medicaid contract problems

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones criticized Blue Shield of California for an “unreasonable” rate hike affecting about 81,000 individual policyholders. … But he and other state officials don’t have the authority to reject changes in premiums. Jones said the latest rate hike amounted to an average increase of 32 percent over a two-year period (Terhune, 1/7). …read more