Insurers agree to delay rate hikes

Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross and PacifiCare will hold off for 60 days after State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones asked for more time to look over the numbers. Sounds more like PR than anything else - the insurance commissioner has only limited power to block increases. Here's the rundown (via the LAT):

--Woodland Hills-based Anthem has said it planned rates hikes to take effect April 1 that would average 9.8% for 638,000 individual policyholders.

--Aetna Inc. had said it planned April 1 increases averaging 20.7% for a portion of its individual business. The Hartford, Conn.-based company raised individual rates an average of 19% in October after delaying the increase for three months.

--Cypress-based PacifiCare, a division of UnitedHealth Group of Minnetonka, Minn., said it planned to raise premiums 2% to 9% as of Jan.1.

Earlier this month Blue Shield refused Jones' request to delay the next scheduled rate hike, creating a bit of a firestorm. The insurer's increases in recent months have been stunningly high.