Rising drug costs are often blamed for driving up health insurance premiums, but a major consumer group says the numbers don’t add up — at least in California.
The advocacy group Consumers Union says two large Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers in the state may be exploiting the outrage over high drug prices to artificially inflate their premiums for individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
State regulators are independently examining the issue and pressing both Anthem Inc. and Blue Shield of California to justify their rate hikes of nearly 20 percent before open enrollment this fall.
