MORE PROOF OBAMACARE IS CREEPING SOCIALISM

Or, perhaps, Creeping Totalitarianism.

From the New York Times: U.S. Proposes Rules on Raising Insurance Premiums

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said on Tuesday that it would require health insurance companies to disclose and justify any increases of 10 percent or more in the premiums they charge next year.

State or federal officials will review the increases to determine if they are unreasonable, the administration said in proposing regulations to enforce the requirement.

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of Health and Human Services, said the review of premiums would “help rein in the kind of excessive and unreasonable rate increases that have made insurance unaffordable for so many families.”

The new health care law, signed in March by President Obama, calls for the annual review of “unreasonable increases in premiums for health insurance coverage.” The law did not define unreasonable.

Under the proposed rules, insurers seeking rate increases of 10 percent or more in the individual or small group market next year must publicly disclose the proposed increases and the justification for them.

“Such increases are not presumed unreasonable, but will be analyzed to determine whether they are unreasonable,” the administration said.

Starting in 2012, the federal government will set a separate threshold for each state, reflecting its cost trends, and insurers will have to disclose rate increases above that level.

Under the proposed regulation, the federal government will evaluate each state’s procedures for analyzing insurance rates.

MORE CREEPING SOCIALISM:

NYTIMES: "House Passes Food Safety Bill, Raising Powers of F.D.A."