The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has calculated that health insurance companies owe their consumers more than $1 billion dollars in rebates this year as a result of the medical-loss ratio requirement, The Washington Post reported. Almost 13 million Americans in both individual and group plans will receive rebates, with the average household receiving $151.
"The big improvement here is a better value for the premium dollar," Mike Hash, interim director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, told the Post. "What this standard encourages issuers to do is be prudent in their administrative expenditures so the bulk of the premium dollar is going to pay for benefits." Article