The checks are being received and people are seeing the positive side of Obamacare.
Now that some of the cost saving elements of the Affordable Care Act have been put into place and are being received by individuals, families, and small businesses, the popularity of the health care reforms is rapidly climbing.
Many people are starting to feel that insurers are now being forced into fairness.
The reason is that part of the health care reforms require insurance companies to spend 80 percent of the money they collect in premiums on actual medical services and products. In the case of insurers providing coverage for employers with more than 50 workers, that number increases to 85 percent.
The health care reforms state that insurers that fail to meet this percentage must issue rebates.
When the insurance companies spend less than 80 (or 85 percent, depending on the plan) on medical expenses, they must issue refunds or rebates to make up for the difference. As a result of the spending in 2011, insurers will be paying a total of $1.1 billion in refunds and rebates to their customers, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The average insured household will receive $151.
The state with the largest average rebate median is Vermont, where the families will be getting about $807 each. Similarly in Alaska, the health care reforms have led to an average family rebate of $622, and in Alabama, families will receive about $518.
On the other hand, in Rhode Island and New Mexico, insurers met the requirements and therefore will not have to send out checks to make up for failing to spend enough on medical expenses when compared to other non-medical costs.
Though only about 14 percent of all insurance companies in the United States actually owe rebates, many of them are among the largest insurers in the American industry. These include Cigna, Aetna, UnitedHealthCare, and Humana.
President Obama is using this opportunity to point out that this shows the efficacy and benefit of the health care reforms. Now that they have been upheld by the Supreme Court, it is starting to become evident how individual Americans are paying less for their coverage and how insurers are being forced into spending fairly.
