WASHINGTON--The Obama administration, moving again toput the spotlight on health insurers, asked five large carriers topublicly disclose their justification for large rate increases.

In a letter sent to the insurers today, Kathleen Sebelius,secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, asked theinsurers to "publicly justify" their requests for large rate hikes,which in California would mean a 39 percent increase in rates forthe individual and small group market.

The letter was sent to the CEOs of UnitedHealth Group Inc.,WellPoint Inc., Aetna Inc., Health Care Service Corporation andCIGNA HealthCare Inc.

It is consistent with the requests Sebelius made at a meeting inthe White House with the CEOs last week.

"Last Thursday, I asked CEOs to post online the actuarialjustification for premium hikes so consumers can see why theirpremiums are skyrocketing," Sebelius said in the letter.

Now, she added, "it's time for these insurance company CEOs todo their part to make the system more transparent for the Americanpeople.

"If insurance companies are going to raise rates, the least theycan do is tell us why," she said.

The administration is basing its criticism on a new analysis byGoldman Sachs which found that competition in the insurance marketis so weak, insurance companies can continue to raise rates even ifit means losing customers.

The analysis cited by the administration found that "pricecompetition is down" and that "incumbent carriers seem more willingthan ever to walk away from existing business."

President Obama also cited the investment note in a speech insuburban Philadelphia today designed to promote support for hishealth care reform legislation as the House prepares to vote onObama-crafted legislation that contains much of what was passed bythe Senate last Christmas eve.

In the letter to the insurers, Sebelius asked them to include intheir response 10 specific types of data.

These include estimates on medical cost and utilizationincreases, the assumptions driving these estimates, and the basisfor those assumptions.

If the premiums increase more than estimated medical costs, sheseeks a description of what accounts for those differences; thenumber of people who will be receiving premium increases; as wellas the number of people who will be receiving different levels ofpremium increases, further broken down by characteristics includingplan type, age and sex.

The letter also requested data on the medical loss ratiosresulting from any premium increases; enrollment changes indifferent plans since the past year; and the number of people onwhose experience the rate increase is calculated.

It also sought data on any premium rating variation includingrating variation by age and health status.