It also examined the ways in which people will be using this money, and other issues.
According to the results from an eHealthInsurance survey, most people who purchase individual health insurance are unaware of the fact that the Affordable Care Act of 2010 may mean that they will be receiving a partial refund of the premiums that they paid last year for their coverage.
The healthcare reform law requires that insurers send rebates to policyholders if they failed to spend at least 80 percent of their income from premiums on actual medical care. August 1, 2012 represents the deadline by which the first rebates must be sent out.
About 15.8 million policyholders will qualify for the approximately $1.3 billion in rebates to be issued.
This, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. There are a number of factors, such as the type of plan itself, which will determine how big the rebate for each policyholder will be.
The survey also indicated that most consumers – 89 percent, in fact – do feel that they deserve this rebate, but only 23 percent stated that they were in complete support of the healthcare reforms that will be granting it to them. At the same time, 31 percent stated that they are opposed to the new healthcare law, and 45 percent said that they supported elements of it, but not the whole thing. Among those who felt that they deserved the rebate that they would be receiving, 93 percent also said that they were in favor of the Affordable Care Act.
Among the respondents to the survey, 73 percent said that they have made a claim on their health insurance within the previous 12 months, but only 10 percent had used it for something other than routine treatment of minor injuries or illness, or for preventive care.
It was also found that those who supported the healthcare reforms were also those who had a higher likelihood to spend the money from their rebates on fun personal activities.
The anonymous health insurance survey was conducted from May 10 through May 18, 2012, and involved the participation of 348 respondents who had purchased their policies through the company that performed the research.
Other related article(s) and resource(s):
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/most-consumers-unaware-of-health-insurance-premium-rebates-ehealthinsurance-survey-finds-2012-06-13
