Despite daunting opposition, the Department of Health and Human Services has remained firm on the medical loss ratio provision of the Affordable Care Act. The medical loss ratio provision requires that insurers pay no less than 80% of premium money on improving medical care. The provision has gained rabid opposition from the nation’s health insurance companies, who have been fighting to have administrative expenses and independent insurance broker fees removed from the mandate. The HHS, however, has issued a final ruling on the matter, claiming that most of the nation’s…
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Insurance brokers speak out against commissions rule in healthcare overhaul
Insurance producers are fighting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (PPACA) element that excludes commissions from the calculations of the minimum medical loss ratio. The PPACA states that health insurance companies in the large group market must spend a minimum of 85 percent of premiums on healthcare services, and those in the small group and individual markets much spend at least 80 percent on healthcare services. Broker and agent groups are battling on Capitol Hill to remove their commissions from the requirement. They had hoped that the cause would…
Read MoreInsurance regulators pass controversial resolution to amend the Affordable Care
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) gathered this week to vote on a controversial resolution that would have drastic effects on a consumer protection clause of the Affordable Care Act. The provision would have saved consumers nationwide approximately $1 billion in premiums while offering them protections from future rate hikes. The provision is also part of the controversial medical loss ratio provision of the health care law – which requires insurers to pay no less than 80% of their premium money on medical care. Regulators have been divided on…
Read MoreIndiana to lose five different health insurers
Five individual health insurance companies, including two of the largest in the country, have chosen to stop selling their policies in Indiana, leading the Indiana Department of Insurance to ask that certain elements of the reform law of 2010 be phased in. The third and fifth largest health insurance companies in the United States, Aetna Inc., from Hartford, and Cigna Corp., from Philadelphia, have decided that they will no longer be taking part in the market for individual health insurance in Indiana. Moreover, American Community Mutual Insurance Co., from Michigan,…
Read MoreAgents celebrate over MLR vote by state commissioner
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has recommended that states vote for legislation that will provide insurance brokers and agents with protection for their commissions from the medical loss ratio (MLR) of the new federal healthcare law’s expense cap which has been applied to medical insurers. The NAIC advisors task force for health insurance voted to support H.R. 1206, which has been called the Professional Health Insurance Advisors Act of 2011. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich) introduced this Act in Congress. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act within the…
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