(UNEDITED - Naples Health Insurance) How did something so right go so wrong? Americans cheered when they heard about affordable insurance for everyone.

Today, however, that dream has quickly faded and affordable care for everyone has now turned into an idea that every individual must purchase health care or be fined at the end of the tax year.

Most insurance premiums look more like a second mortgages. What many hard working American families could not afford in the first place is going to be forced upon them by our elected leaders. The justification for this was the costs of health care was going up because so many people either opted not to pay for the insurance or were unable to do so.

Sunday morning I read an AP Press release concerning a company called Anthem, or Blue Cross of California who wanted to raise the policy rates from 25 to as much as 39% on roughly 700,000 existing California customers. The article pointed out that Anthem Blue Cross is sending rate increases out to customers in at least three other states that will amount to 15% more for premiums. In Maine, Blue Cross is asking for an increase of 23% which is on top of a 32% increase last year. All in all the citizens of Maine will see premiums rise up to 55% in two years.

When asked what justification Anthem Blue Cross had fore these massive increases and I quote-

"The company has blamed the increased rates on the recession, rising medical costs and more healthy people dropping out of the plan, leaving fewer premium dollars to cover costs. It has insisted that the situation shows the need for a health-care overhaul that requires everyone to have health insurance."

This sounds familiar but I wonder who actually said it, our leaders or the insurance giants?

Anthem Blue Cross is a subsidiary of insurance giant WellPoint Inc. of Indianapolis. According to the article WellPoint Inc. reported a profit of $4.75 billion in the last quarter of 2009.

It is interesting, to me, that our elected leaders who have jurisdiction over the insurance process have allowed this to continue or could even consider the forced medical concept.

WHY?

PLEASE VOTE IN NOVEMBER!

Thomas Armstrong

Perry