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Health Care Reform Rebates For Health Insurance Costs Rolling In
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/16/health-care-reform-rebate_n_1676964.htmlLook inside your mailbox: By the end of the month, you could be getting one of these refunds, which are are expected to total $1.1 billion this year. Health insurance companies have begun sending letters to customers informing them of a new rule requiring them to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they receive on actual medical care, not on overhead, advertising, profits or other costs. Health insurers must cite the health care reform law, known as the Affordable Care Act, in the letter.
Le, a 35-year-old self-employed information technology consultant in Chicago, didn't know about the new rules until he got the check from UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Golden Rule Insurance Company. "I was pretty surprised," Le said. At first, he was afraid the company was canceling his plan, which costs about $160 a month. Once he realized what it was, getting a check like that was "powerful," he said. "I wouldn't have gotten a penny if it wasn't for the law."
The authors of President Barack Obama's health care reform law aim to pressure health insurance companies to cut down on administrative costs and other expenses and to prevent them from raising premiums to maximize profits. The idea is to eliminate waste by health plans so they charge lower premiums in the future, said Blake Hutson, a health care advocate with Consumers Union in Austin, Texas.
"It's a way to increase value in health insurance," Hutson said. "What the rule does is encourage insurance companies to operate more efficiently."
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Health Care Reform Rebates For Health Insurance Costs Rolling In (Original Post)
Bill USA
Sep 2012
OP
SDjack
(1,448 posts)1. There doesn't seem to be a ground swell of GOPers
returning their checks to the insurance companies.
AC_Mem
(1,979 posts)2. I think they should walk their talk
and send every penny back to the CEO's of the insurance companies, so they can add it to their yearly bonuses.
ha!
They will take that check to the bank and STILL hate the President even as they sign their name to the back of the check.
Shine on,
Annette
antigop
(12,778 posts)3. How in the heck can he get a policy for $160/month?
It says he is "self-employed", so it's not like he is working for a company that is subsidizing his health insurance.
What does he have ---a $50,000 deductible?