THE KAISER FOUNDATION estimates that 16 million insurance policyholders will receive $1.3 billion in rebates.
If insider Mark Halperin is writing positively about ACA, you know something is about to hit.
But the rebate provision of the law — the fruits of the so-called “80/20 rule” — is about to kick in big time, as millions of Americans receive rebate checks or premium reductions from insurance companies who have failed to spend enough on patient care. This cash could be a true game changer in public attitudes about whether the law actually is beneficial and good public policy. The rebate provision of the law has been known and discussed in health care policy circles for months, but has largely flown below the radar in the political world and for voters—until now.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explains the measure in a Friday blog post on the department website: “You can be sure that insurance companies are spending generally at least 80 cents of every dollar you pay in premiums on your health care or activities that improve health care quality,” she writes. “If the insurance company fails to meet this standard, or the ‘medical loss ratio,’ in any year, they have to pay you a rebate.”
It’s an important part of the goody package in Obama’s health care plan that was needed a long time ago to form a buttress against the negative talking points that have already built up in many minds.
Better late than never and in an election year that can be enough.
Now we wait for what the Supreme Court decides next month.
Next week is women’s health week. Do something to improve your health no matter how small it sounds. It takes more than a “diet.” It’a about a healthy lifestyle. That’s why diets don’t work.
Can’t wait to read here how all the repugnantklan/teabaggers and ODS sufferers sent the checks back because they are they result of Obamacare.
P.S and not so postscript, this is the first time I’m hearing about this rebate and I’m paying attention. It’s astounding how the ACA is so misunderstood by the vast public and that is the direct fault of the Obama Administration as they should have yelled and carried on at the top of their political lungs to counter the radical distortions spewed by the tea bag lot. Pity the politico’s in the WH didn’t jump up and down and angrily scream with passion their lungs out about these gross distortions as they are angrily screaming about and to VP Biden because he spoke candidly about marriage equality on Meet the Press beating the boss to the finish line which caused him to an unnecessary apology to the POTUS who was also apparently pissed at him). Instead, they let the teabag lot out spin and out yell them to distort what’s in the bill to make it into a socialist “monster” about to devour us instead of what it is, a very small step and very tame effort to “reform” health care delivery which it failed to do. How such a small step was turned into a Behemoth falls on the steps of the Obama WH including Kathleen Sebelius who has been a brew of weak tea in all of this debacle.
Always happy to see you in the comments, newdealdem1.
Thanks, Taylor. Good and happy to be posting here!
Agree with your comment 100%. I would even fan you is there was a way to do so.
One would have thought that something like this would have been repeated loud and clear by the Obama administration at the outset in order to create goodwill and score cheap political points…but NO.
In fact it is mostly the lunacy of the GOP that is bringing me back towards a vote for the Obama Administration, because whenever I remember the way Obama and his team managed the Health Care reform I get really pissed off. Such a wasted opportunity, and in the end what was adopted was very far from what was needed. But the worse is that they did not even bother to properly explain to voters the benefits of the little they managed to pass. Instead it was up to the most committed to find out about the specifics of the law, and the Palin-Beck-Limbaugh crowd used the void to spread their lies, hysteria and conspiracy theories. Ridiculous, and as TM would say, political malpractice of the first order and a significant betrayal to those, including health care professionals, who had hoped for comprehensive reform.
And the crazies are trying to get the very little progress that was made struck down…I fear the worst regarding the SC’s decision.
Wow! I agree with that comment 100%!
The problem with any legislation as complex as the Affordable Care Act is that opponents can cherry pick any single provision and make false accusations of what the provision actually does. Take Medicare. I became eligible for Medicare two years ago. What I learned about the impact of the Affordable Care Act was an eye opener. First, there are no cuts to basic Medicare, in fact Medicare benefits have increased. The Affordable Care Act has elimated co-pays for an annual physical encouraging Medicare beneficiaries to take the annual phyisical benefit that may catch serious conditions earlier meaning more effective therapies and reduced Medicare costs. Second, the ‘donut hole’ which leaves thousands of Medicare benifciiaries caught in a period where prescription drugs are not covered at all costing tens of thousands of seniors Medicare prescription drug costs. The Affordable Care Act has reduced and over time will completly eliminate the ‘donut hole’ over time.
The GOP and private health insurance companies have falsly accused the Affordable Care Act of cutting 500 billion dollars in Medicare BENEFITS. The Affordable Care act reduces Medicare costs, not benefits, over time. Much of the most savings comes from changes to taxpayer funded subsidies given to private health insurance companies., that offer Medicare Complete and Medicare Advantage supplemental health insurance policies.
Medicare by law cannot offer any benefits above the basic Medicare benefit package. The 2004 Bush prescription drug coverage benefit exludes Medicarfe from offering prescription drug benefits. To obtain prescription drug benefits a Medicare benificiary has to buy either a prescription drug policy at a premium or join a health insurance company Medicare Complete or Medicare Advantage program.
I joined a United Healthcare Medicare Complete program to obtain prescription drug coverage. My premium for this prescription drug covereage is ZERO. How is that possible. It turns out that by signing up with tte Medicare Complete program I was forced to join United Healthcare’s HMO. Every claim I may have including prescription drugs, hospital costs, visits to primary or specialist visits, costs for therapy and nurse therapist services and surgical procedures are all paid by United Healthcare. United Healthcare then bills Medicare for the cost of the claim and adds a 14% transaction fee for every dollar of every claim submitted.
The Affordable Caree ACt cuts the taxpayer funded 14% premiuim transaction fee down to 7%. Those are the cost cuts to Medicare, not benfit cuts. Sadly, most seniors are unaware of what the Affordable Care Act actually does and will vote against Obama because they believe that under the Affordable Care Act that their benefits will be cut.
The Polls can also be misleading. Approval rates for repealing the Affordable Care Act is above 50% but has been reduced sliightly in more recent polls. The problem with tese polls are that abouit 40% of respondants object to the Affordable Care Act because it goes too far. But about 10 to 15% object to the Affordable Care Acr because it doesn’t go far enough… it didn’t have a public option, which was impossible because of a handfuill of Democratic Senators who had personal interest in the insurance of pharmaceutical industry.
RAJensen that is what has been the most frustrating thing when I hear the repugnantklan/teabaggers chortling and crowing so dishonestly about poll numbers. The reality, the TRUTH of the matter is WELL over 60% of the public want government healthcare available to everyone.
Bingo!
As someone who actually has read the ACA (!) I agree wholeheartedly with all of these comments. The Administration has done a lousy job of explaining it to everyone. Regarding the rebates: the 80-20 rule only applies to individual and very small group plans. The rule for large plans is 85-15 which is a higher standard. The larger the plan, the less percentage is taken by overhead and profit.
To clarify, about a third of that ($426 million) will go to individual policy holders. The rest will go to employers. The number of people affected directly by this will be rather small. The number of such people who will be forced to buy insurance they can’t afford to lose will be at least as big, though that “benefit” doesn’t kick in until next year.
While limitiing the MLR is useful, it’s still allowed to be at least five times what the equivalent Medicare or Medicaid MLR would be. That margin is still extraordinarily high.
I wonder what will be written on the check? Will it actually say “Courtesy of the Affordable Healthcare Act?”