Aetna withdrew a 19% rate increase in California after “substantial mathematical errors” were uncovered during the state’s review, state insurance regulators said.

Steve Poizner

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced the withdrawal, the second in three months. In April, Anthem Blue Cross, part of WellPoint, withdrew its request for rate increases of up to 39%, a request that President Barack Obama and Democrats used to highlight the need for insurance reform.

The errors in calculations for the Aetna request, which would increase rates for 65,000 of its policyholders, were discovered during an actuarial review.

“First, we found major problems with the Anthem Blue Cross rate filing,” Poizner said in a statement. “Now, additional scrutiny has revealed that Aetna’s filing has significant mathematical errors.”

In announcing the withdrawal, Poizner also suggested additional evaluation of rate increases is necessary.

“Given that two of the four major health insurers have provided rate filings containing math errors, I believe an additional level of transparency is warranted,” he said.

Poizner will post future individual health insurance filings on the state’s website, where people can review them. He called it an “exceptional step.”

“I’m hopeful this public disclosure will add additional pressure on insurers to avoid errors. It will also allow any member of the public to scrutinize these rate filings and will, in the end, minimize rate increases by keeping markets as competitive as possible,” he said.

Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a critic of Anthem’s large rate request earlier this year, endorsed Poizner’s move toward more accountability.

“I applaud California for its decision to shine more light on skyrocketing insurance rates and demand more accountability after uncovering that a second insurer used faulty math to try to justify exorbitant health insurance premium increases,” Sebelius said in a statement.

“As President Obama has said, Americans across the country have been at the mercy of insurers for far too long when it comes to premiums and prices. Finally, the power is shifting back to consumers thanks to the strong actions on the part of the states, and new protections and accountability under the Affordable Care Act. As we work to turn this new law into reality for families everywhere, we will continue working closely with the states, providing them with more resources to hold insurers accountable and get the American people the quality, affordable health insurance they deserve,” Sebelius said.

Poizner said the errors were found independently by Aetna and actuaries working for the California Department of Insurance (CDI). Aetna continued to review its rate filing after submitting it to CDI and self-reported the error.

Last week, Poizner announced that the rate filings of Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield and Health Net – the four largest insurers in the individual health insurance market in California – will be given an additional level of scrutiny by having them analyzed by an outside actuary. Unlike auto and homeowners insurance rates, health insurance rates do not require prior approval by the California Department of Insurance.