The latest round of exorbitant health insurance rate increases nationally has helped more and more people recognize what Consumer Watchdog has been arguing for the last year: Congress cannot require all Americans to purchase insurance from the for-profit insurance industry without real oversight of what they charge …

Consumer Watchdog insurance experts were joined yesterday by insurance consumers across the country who have experienced double-digit premium increases on their health insurance policies to call for a freeze on any new rate hikes until new regulations are enacted to curb excessive premium increases.

You can listen to the teleconference here.

As my colleague Judy Dugan wrote yesterday, about a move to regulate insurance rates in Connecticut, these calls to rein in out of control insurance companies are gaining steam. Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL) have introduced legislation to create a federal Rate Authority with the power to reject or reduce rates that are unreasonable, when the states fail to act. 

Read here Consumer Watchdog's recommendations to make that Rate Authority as effective as possible, in conjunction with state regulation, based on California's successful auto, homeowners and business insurance law, Proposition 103.

And in Massachusetts, where they're struggling with out of control rate hikes after mandating that everyone purchase health insurance but not limiting what insurers can charge, Governor Deval Patrick called for legislation to reject all premium increases higher than the rate of inflation unless insurers have a compelling argument for rate hikes.

The latest round of exorbitant rate increases nationally has helped more and more people recognize what Consumer Watchdog has been arguing for the last year: Congress cannot require all Americans to purchase insurance from the for-profit insurance industry without real oversight of what they charge.