Health care reform gets nasty

The battle between the Obama administration and the health insurance industry was ratcheted up recently when the White House learned some companies, including those offering Medicare Advantage plans, are planning a premium hike of up to 9 percent.

Upon learning certain companies were telling beneficiaries the health care reform act was forcing them to raise premiums, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote an angry letter to America’s Health Insurance Plans, the health insurance lobby, informing it the administration would take a “zero tolerance” approach to “misinformation and unjustified rate increases.”