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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThanks To Obamacare, Major Insurers Have To Give Back $36 Million To California Small Businesses
Thanks To Obamacare, Major Insurers Have To Give Back $36 Million To California Small Businesses
By Sy Mukherjee
On Tuesday, Golden State small businesses and their employees got some great news: two of the states largest insurers will have to give them over $36 million in insurance rebates because of an Obamacare consumer protection.
The health law forces insurers to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they charge on paying for actual medical services, rather than administrative overhead or profits. That means more money for ordinary consumers and less for profitable insurance companies.
The so-called 80/20 rule put $1.5 billion back into Americans pockets in 2011 alone. The average rebate was $151 per family across all insurance markets, and in states where insurers blatantly gouged prices, average rebates topped a whopping $500 per family.
Now, the benefits for Californians with small business health plans are beginning to materialize. Blue Shield of California will be forced to pay back $24.5 million in rebates. Anthem Blue Cross will have to pay back another $12 million.
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/06/05/2101831/thanks-to-obamacare-major-insurers-have-to-give-back-36-million-to-california-small-businesses/
By Sy Mukherjee
On Tuesday, Golden State small businesses and their employees got some great news: two of the states largest insurers will have to give them over $36 million in insurance rebates because of an Obamacare consumer protection.
The health law forces insurers to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they charge on paying for actual medical services, rather than administrative overhead or profits. That means more money for ordinary consumers and less for profitable insurance companies.
The so-called 80/20 rule put $1.5 billion back into Americans pockets in 2011 alone. The average rebate was $151 per family across all insurance markets, and in states where insurers blatantly gouged prices, average rebates topped a whopping $500 per family.
Now, the benefits for Californians with small business health plans are beginning to materialize. Blue Shield of California will be forced to pay back $24.5 million in rebates. Anthem Blue Cross will have to pay back another $12 million.
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/06/05/2101831/thanks-to-obamacare-major-insurers-have-to-give-back-36-million-to-california-small-businesses/
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Thanks To Obamacare, Major Insurers Have To Give Back $36 Million To California Small Businesses (Original Post)
ProSense
Jun 2013
OP
ProSense
(116,464 posts)1. Kick! n/t
Tarheel_Dem
(31,234 posts)2. K&R
Mr.Bill
(24,293 posts)3. Is there anything
to keep the employers from keeping every dime of it?
ProSense
(116,464 posts)8. These rebates for individuals and small businesses are great. n/t
andym
(5,443 posts)4. Irony is that Blue Shield of California is a non-profit
and it still overcharged its customers.....
... they ought to get a hefty fine for that. Heck, CA ought to throw them out of the state for being non-profit and over-charging their customers.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)6. $36 million lost to soy-shell-est healthcare. Thanks, Obama!
Cha
(297,240 posts)9. Yeah, too bad about that Obamacare! You know those small business owners are
feeling good about this. bless their hard working hearts.
Insurance companies arent the only ones who arent huge fans of this consumer protection. Last September, the Republican-led House Energy and Commerce Committees Health Subcommittee passed H.R. 1206, which would have repealed the 80/20 rule and amounted to a massive premium hike for over 13 million Americans. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the bill would also increase the federal deficit by $531 million in the next four years
It gives useless teapubbies something to do in Congress. Repeal Obamacare.
thanks ProSense
sheshe2
(83,771 posts)10. K&R! nt
Botany
(70,508 posts)11. thanks Obama