By Nicole Gaouette and Alexandra Thomas March 4 (Bloomberg) — Aetna Inc. ’s chief executive officer answered criticism from President Barack Obama ’s top health official over surging rates by saying unnecessary medicine is helping drive up costs. The CEO, Ronald A. Williams , told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at the White House today that “we do things that don’t need to be done in terms of paying for procedures and not paying for results.” Sebelius called the meeting with executives of the top health insurers after WellPoint Inc. , the largest health insurance company by membership, proposed a 39 percent rate increase for some policy holders in California. Obama described the proposal from the Indianapolis-based company as “just a preview” of what would happen if Congress fails to pass health- care legislation. The increases are marketwide and Americans are worried “they’re next,” Sebelius said today. At the same time, she said the CEOS and state insurance commissioners were meeting “to see what kind of ideas we can share.” Williams, whose company is based in Hartford, Connecticut, said there are “issues” in the market for health-care policies for people who must buy insurance on their own and said expanded access would help. All parts of the industry must work to hold down costs, he said, citing unnecessary medical tests as a reason health-care costs are increasing. Obama has pushed Congress to stop debating health-care and yesterday urged lawmakers move to “a final vote” on the biggest changes in the nation’s medical system in 45 years. To do so, Democrats are likely to use a parliamentary maneuver called reconciliation that requires a simple majority in the Senate. Republicans have enough votes to stop a measure under the body’s typical rules. While it has often been used to pass health legislation in the past, reconciliation faces unanimous opposition from Republicans and some Democrats say they are wary as well. Williams and Sebelius spoke before the meeting was closed to reporters. To contact the reporters on this story: Nicole Gaouette in Washington at ngaouette@bloomberg.net ; Alexandra Thomas in Washington at athomas48@bloomberg.net .
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Aetna’s Chief Cites Costs to Answer White House on Health-Insurance Rates
