Anthem to delay insurance rate hike amid criticism (AP)

Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross says it's postponing its much-criticized plan to raise rates up to 39 percent for some California residents buying insurance on their own.

Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross will postpone its much-criticized plan to raise rates for some California residents who buy insurance on their own, after reaching a deal Saturday with state regulators.

Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross will postpone its much-criticized plan to raise rates for some California residents who buy insurance on their own, after reaching a deal Saturday with state regulators.

The insurer had postponed its planned hike for two months amid public outcry, and a spokeswoman says there won’t be an increase in May. Thousands of Anthem Blue Cross policyholders who faced steep rate hikes on May 1 will get at least a temporary reprieve after California's largest for-profit health insurer extended a two-month postponement prompted by public outrage over the proposed increases.

Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross agrees to reduce the average increase to 14% from 18% in response to regulators' criticism.In response to pressure from California regulators, Anthem Blue Cross agreed to a slightly lower rate increase for about 630,000 individual policyholders that will save consumers an estimated $54 million.

Fearing for his life, Ephram Nehme paid for his own surgery in Indiana, where wait times for organ transplants are far shorter than in California. Anthem says it did nothing wrong. Ephram Nehme was gravely ill when Anthem Blue Cross of California agreed to pay for a liver transplant his physician said he needed to survive. Then, his condition went downhill fast. ¶ The news from his doctor was bad. The word from his insurer was worse.