Division of Insurance announces rebates for consumers and businesses
Massachusetts insurance regulators have announced that many of the state’s citizens can expect to receive rebates on their insurance coverage. Insurance Commissioner Joseph Murphy notes that the rebates are coming from five of the state’s largest insurance companies. Insurance rebates will be issues to approximately 50,000 individual policyholders and another 50,000 businesses throughout the state. The insurance rebates total $56.8 million.
Insurance rebates connected to 2010 law
The Massachusetts Division of Insurance notes that the insurance rebates are $10 million higher than what the state’s insurance companies had expected. This is due to a state law that aims to ensure that insurance rebates reflect the amount of money companies had spent on health care costs in 2011. Insurance companies filed their rebates earlier this month, which were reviewed by the state’s insurance regulators. Upon investigation, regulators found that insurers owed more in rebates than they had estimated.
Regulators expect consumers to receive an average of $200 in rebates
According to the Division of Insurance, consumers can expect to see approximately $200 in insurance rebates. Businesses will see an average of $930 returned. Some consumers and businesses will receive a check in the mail from their insurance company. Others will have the amount owed to them in rebates credited toward their account, effectively lowering their insurance premiums by that particular amount.
Insurance rebate law may be extended at the end of the year
This is the first year that insurance rebates have been issued under the state’s law, which was passed in 2010. The law indicates that insurance companies must pay at least 88% of the money they collected on premiums in 2011 on medical care. This standard is being increased to 90% this year. Though the law is scheduled to expire at the end of this year, Massachusetts lawmakers have expressed interest in renewing it for the foreseeable future.
