Ringo Contested Rate Increase Heads to Appeals

Lund Report:

March 31, 2011 -- The Oregon Court of Appeals will revisit today one of the largest health insurance rate increases to hit Oregon consumers, a 26 percent average hike on Regence individual plan holders nearly three years ago.

Attorney and former state senator Charlie Ringo, representing Regence plan holder Karen Kirsch in the case, said he will argue that regulators did not fully apply state law, which bars unreasonable rate increases.

Ringo will repeat arguments he laid out in an administrative law hearing last year, that actuaries in the Oregon Insurance Division were overruled by the director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, at the time Cory Streisinger, which oversees the Division.

“The non-legal argument is the decision was made for political reasons,” said Ringo, who plans to ask the court to set up some sort of “rate reserve fund” to benefit consumers. A decision is not expected for another nine months.

“It’s important the Insurance Division applies the standards and the statutes that are in place,” Ringo said. “The Division has been very remiss in the way it applies the statute. Like all organizations if they are not held accountable they tend to get sloppy. They need to be diligent.”

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