Many Americans may now be eligible to get refunds or rebates on money spent on their health insurance.
Regulations were released this week detailing the MLR rule- medical loss ratio. This rule is important to hold insurance companies accountable according to Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services Secretary.
The Associated Press explains it by saying ,”this requires insurance companies to spend at least 80 cents of the premium dollar on medical care and quality. For employer plans covering more than 50 people, the requirement is 85 cents” to “give consumers a better deal.”
According to Bloomberg, “U.S. health insurers can include the cost of federal taxes in determining whether they spend enough on patient care, increasing the amount they can keep for administration or profits under new federal rules. … Health plans led by Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. may seek delays if individual states can show the federal government that the so-called medical-ratio rules will destabilize insurance markets”
Money can not be used for huge executive bonuses. So, in a nutshell, money that your insurance company rakes in for healthcare must be spent on healthcare.
Now that’s a novel idea!
