In one more sign that health insurance companies are under pressure to change the way they do business, a Maine judge last week said state regulators have no obligation to guarantee Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield a profit.

The case concerned the market for individual policies ”“ a sector that shows how dysfunctional the health care system has become. By refusing to award Anthem a profit for serving this failing market, regulators and the court declined to make a bad situation worse.

The company had originally asked for a whopping 18.5 percent rate increase on these individual polices, but was granted only 10.9 percent by regulators ”“ an amount that very pointedly allowed for no profit.

Breaking even in this category seems to be a bottom line Anthem could live with. The company has prospered in Maine, returning more than $200 million to Wellpoint, its parent company, over the last three years. Wellpoint meanwhile, has set aside $3.5 billion this year for stock repurchases intended to benefit shareholders.

Insurers are not entirely to blame, but individuals have gradually been priced out the health insurance market in Maine. As its pool of policy holders shrinks, Anthem finds itself serving customers who are older and sicker than it had bargained for. In a continuing effort to wring profits from the market, the company’s proposed rate hike for 2010 is 22.9 percent.

The state’s insurance superintendent, Mila Kofman, has not yet addressed that request. She said she would allow the company no profit and risk margin for individual policies in 2009, a decision that was upheld April 21 by Thomas E. Humphrey, chief justice of the Maine Superior Court.

We hope the decision stands, but we realize the reason behind industry resistance. Once you conclude that profit is a cost that may be eliminated in the search for affordable health care, it is hard to know where to stop.