On the Fox Business Network, a host chided a vice president of WellPoint, which has just told California customers to expect huge rate increases: “You handed the politicians red meat at a time when health care is being discussed. You gave it to them!”

Nearly 1 million self-insured individuals (self-employed, small business owners, etc) in California who buy insurance on the individual market — as opposed to getting it through their employers — are covered by Anthem Blue Cross, a WellPoint subsidiary.

These are the people who were recently told to expect dramatic rate increases, in some cases as high as 39 percent.

But WellPoint says it’s not that…they had to raise rates because they’re in a Death Spiral.