According to a recent Commonwealth Fund Report, the Affordable Care Act’s medical loss ratio (MLR) provision has paid consumers more than $5 billion cumulatively from 2011 to 2013, through insurance company rebates and reduced health plan spending. Insurers with MLRs below the minimum must rebate the difference to consumers.
Under the law, insurers must spend 80% for small-group or individual plans and 85% for large-group plans on medical care.
Related Post: IRS Guidance Causes Confusion About ACA Requirements
University researchers Michael McCue and Mark Hall found that in 2012 insurers paid out $513 million in consumer rebates, nearly half of the amount paid to consumers the previous year, indicating greater compliance with the MLR rule.
The researchers found that insurers spending to improve the quality of patient care remained the same each year and insurers reduced spending on brokers’ fees, marketing and administrative costs by $1.4 billion in 2012 as well as a $350 billion reduction of overhead in 2011.
Read the article in its entirety here.
Related Post: Supreme Court To Hear Challenge to Obamacare – What You Need To Know
ClaimLinx is proactively ready for the many changes of Health Care Reform. For more information please visit the Health Care Reform section on our website. For a free brochure, please email service@claimlinx.com.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact us at 513-677-6262; (800) 858-1772 or service@claimlinx.com – we would be happy to help.