June 25, 2013
U.S. insurers will pay $500 million in rebates to employers and individuals this summer because of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, about half the amount they paid last year. The law, often called Obamacare, requires companies to refund customers when …
December 5, 2012
Consumers saw nearly $1.5 billion in insurer rebates and overhead cost savings in 2011, due to the Affordable Care Act’s medical loss ratio provision requiring health insurers to spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on health care or …
November 2, 2012
When it comes to the 2012 presidential election, insurance agents have, as industry insiders like to say, “skin in the game.” In addition to being concerned with how the overall economy will perform under either a re-elected President Barack Obama …
March 30, 2012
Arkansas has clarified that it will retain the current statutory definition of a small employer as being one that retains 2 to 50 employees for purposes of small group health insurance issues. The Arkansas Insurance Department made the distinction, however, …
February 13, 2012
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is going overtime as it decides whether to stick with federal standards that could mean $12 million in rebates for more than 58,000 North Carolina residents who buy their own health insurance. …
February 6, 2012
Two U.S. senators have filed a bill to clarify that agent compensation should be excluded from the federal health reform Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) requirement for the individual and small group markets. Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., chair of the …
January 30, 2012
The federal government has rejected a request by Texas to be excluded from a new law that limits how much health insurance companies can spend on overhead. The law is part of the Affordable Care Act, changes made in federal …
January 16, 2012
Gov. Dennis Daugaard has announced that his administration will not pursue legislation to establish a health insurance exchange during this year’s South Dakota’s legislative session. In a news release, Daugaard says there is too much uncertainty right now to recommend …
January 5, 2012
Oklahoma’s top insurance regulator believes the medical insurance market is headed for “disruption” as a result of the medical loss ratio component of federal health insurance reform After Oklahoma’s request for a waiver of the MLR requirement was denied by …
December 19, 2011
In his first year as insurance commissioner of Oklahoma, John Doak has been a busy man. Doak and the agency he leads have had their hands full implementing reforms in the workers’ compensation system, dealing with a host of natural …