Californians are bracing for a big shake up– an earthquake of sorts in health insurance. Blue Shield of California is headed for another rate hike, which will hit March 1, 2011 according to reports. At that time 193,000 policyholders will experience increases of about 30%. This will be the third rate jump in six months, increasing costs by about 59%. “For families, there are few things as painful as a 59 percent health insurance rate increase,” Doug Heller, from the Santa Monica-based advocacy group, Consumer Watchdog told the International Business Times.

California’s Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones is asking for Blue Shield to hold off on the bump, even though he doesn’t have the authority to stop it. “Many Californians will no doubt be surprised to learn that the Insurance Commissioner does not have the legal authority to reject excessive health insurance premium increases,” Jones, a former state lawmaker, told the International Business Times. “I have fought hard to give the Insurance Commissioner this authority for the last six years. I have authored strong legislation to give the Insurance Commissioner the authority to reject excessive premium increases, only to see it defeated in the Legislature by conservative legislators.”

According to reports, Blue Shield issued this statement concerning their March 1 increase: “Our individual market medical costs are rising rapidly due to higher provider prices, increased utilization, and the fact that healthier people are dropping coverage during a bad economy,” the statement read. “Blue Shield of California expects to lose tens of millions of dollars on its individual healthcare business in both 2010 and 2011.”