Calif.’s Top HMOs See Gains as Costs Rise
From Associated Press
California’s biggest HMOs are getting richer even as rising medical costs strain the budgets of their customers, according to filings with state regulators.
The state’s five largest health maintenance organizations had stockpiled reserves totaling $3.15 billion as of Sept. 30. That was $2.2 billion more than they needed to meet the minimum standards of financial health mandated by the state Department of Managed Health Care.
The five HMOs are: Kaiser Foundation, Blue Cross, Health Net, Blue Shield and PacificCare.
HMO critics, however, view the industry’s large reserves as a sign of runaway greed.
