Medical Loss Ratio Rule to Result in Nearly $1.3 Billion in Insurance Rebates
“Healthwatch” blog (5/11), Elise Viebeck reports, “A rule created by the 2010 healthcare law and finalized Friday will yield about $1.3 billion in insurance rebates for nearly 16 million Americans, according to estimates by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The rule know as the medical loss ratio (MLR), mandates that insurers spend roughly 80 percent of all premium on healthcare rather than on marketing, executive bonuses or other administrative costs.”
The Wall Street Journal (5/12, Radnofsky, Subscription Publication, A4) says the new guidelines require insurers to state that the check comes as a result of the Affordable Care Act. The Journal calls it an attempt by the White House to draw attetntion to the benefits of the law as the fall elections near.
Halperin: ACA Rebates Are A Big Deal. In Time (5/11) Mark Halperin writes, “From almost the moment the Affordable Care Act (a/k/a ‘ObamaCare’) was signed into law, the Administration has been playing defense, “yet “the rebate provision of the law . . . the fruits of the so-called 80/20 rule’ – is about to kick in big time, as millions of Americans receive rebate checks or premium reduction from insurance companies who have failed to spend enough on patient care.” Halperin adds, “This cash could be a true game changer in public attitudes” and he notes that Secretary Sebelius “explains the measure in a Friday blog post” on the HHS site.