STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 2 May 2012

[Demeter]

13. Health reform law to yield $1.3 billion in insurance rebates

U.S. consumers and employers will receive about $1.3 billion in rebates from insurance companies this year, according to a new study quantifying a key early benefit of the health care law that President Barack Obama signed in 2010. That will translate to anywhere between a few dollars and more than $150 for nearly 16 million consumers nationwide, the report by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation found.

Obama's health care law requires insurers to spend a minimum portion of customers' premiums on medical care. The provision was championed by consumer groups concerned that companies were hiking premiums to pay for executive salaries, shareholder dividends and other expenses unrelated to customers' care. Starting last year, if insurers fail to meet these targets, known as medical loss ratios, they are required to pay rebates the following year. In some cases, the rebates will go only to employers, which may pass them on to employees as rebate checks.

...The Kaiser study found 486 health plans nationwide that will be required to pay rebates, with the largest number in the so-called individual market serving people who do not get health coverage through work. The report did not identify individual insurers. Nearly a third of all consumers in this market, which is widely seen as more problem-plagued than the market serving employers, will be eligible for a rebate. About a quarter of consumers in the small group insurance market and less than a fifth of consumers in the large group market qualified for rebates. Employers that self-insure are not subject to the new rebate requirement.

The average rebate for enrollees in all individual plans is $127 per person...


Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/04/26/146914/health-reform-law-to-yield-13.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy