I spent the morning of Aug. 25 at the "public hearing" on the Blue Cross Blue Shield-New Mexico rate hike. I left at 11:15 after listening to more than two hours about why BCBS has the right to raise its rates — talk of laws and regulations and droning on about actuarial tables from the attorneys from BCBS-NM and the Attorney General's Office.

No one from the public had been able to speak yet; most of us work and are self-employed, so why was so much time given to BCBS-NM to once again explain its side?

Here are the comments I would have made, had I not had to leave.

u The purpose of a public hearing is to hear what the public has to say. We already heard from BCBS-NM at the last "public hearing." Why waste our time regurgitating this? My guess is that by drawing the hearing out, they thought most of us would leave and they could claim "there wasn't public interest in the rate hike." Oh yes, we were told we could not ask questions, just comment.

And, why hold a hearing at
9 a.m. when those most affected have a hard time going? Why not at 6 p.m. after work hours?

u BCBS kept saying it was a 21.3 percent increase, but newsflash! That was the average; my rates went up 26.2 percent. Maybe they felt that if they kept saying 21.3 percent, those of us sitting there would begin to feel it was OK?

u If, as they say, BCBS is a member-owned not-for-profit company, then we as members should have the right to know what the top 10 executives have made over the last five years, including bonuses. They have failed to disclose this information to the "member owners" (i.e. policy holders) and the insurance commission.

u Here's a quote from BCBS-NM's website: "Health Care Service Corporation is not a publicly traded company and does not have any investors. We are customer-owned. That means our 'investors' are our policyholders. We answer to them and will always make their best interest our top priority." Perhaps they need to read their own material. And here's another newsflash — the 10 most senior executives of the nonprofit Health Care Service Corp. saw their compensation jump last year by at least 48 percent, thanks to huge bonuses. Compensation more than doubled for six.

I heard the word "assumptions" used several times by the actuarial witness when discussing rate increases. Assumptions? Not facts? Paul Bardacke kept reminding us that this increase was based on facts! And we were told that BCBS-NM had reduced its salary increases. Why are they getting any increase in salaries if they are losing money? Where is that money coming from? Perhaps from the 26 percent increase I am paying for health care.

Not once were the "investors" asked what could be done to make this more fair. We were told that those of us living in outlying areas really get hit hardest because there are fewer services.

Well how about this as a partial solution — take the total of all of the "investors," including those covered by large groups and give us all the same premium. Then I bet all of our rates would go down, and, perhaps more "investors" would want to have BCBS-NM as their insurance provider.

Last year, I changed my policy to a Blue Direct Policy. This required underwriting. I asked why, because I have been a BCBS "investor" for more than 10 years. They had all my information. I would think this is how they could save some money internally, not to mention that I have now received three letters stating the rate change is effective Oct. 1. Why not just one? And they sent this to 40,000 of us, times 3.

I believe this really comes down to two words: corporate greed. Forty thousand New Mexicans need help now. How can the executives of BCBS-NM defend their salaries and bonuses while those of us who own small businesses don't get to raise our service cost by 26 percent? I would be out of business.

They complain that they took a $20 million loss last year. Perhaps they could reduce their million-dollar salaries to offset this. As an "investor," I am not seeing any return.

Patti Rogoff is the owner of a small business in Santa Fe for 18 years.