The medical loss ratio is a part of the Affordable Care Act. By now, you have probably become aware that the Affordable Care Act is a series of health reform laws that are designed to improve health care, and health insurance, for consumers. The medical loss ratio is also a wonderful thing for consumers. The medical loss ratio is a law that requires health insurance companies to spend a specific percentage of the money they get from premiums on medical claims, or activities that will improve the health of their customers. For most insurers, the amount is 80%. However, really … Continue reading →

It’s official! The rules about what insurance companies can, and cannot, include as part of the “medical loss ratio” have been decided. Government regulators worked together with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to come up with what is allowed, and what is forbidden. How does this affect consumers like you? People who have health insurance must pay premiums. Often, these premiums are paid monthly. New regulations that begin in 2011 require insurance companies to pay between 80% and 85% of the money they get from their customers on medical claims, or on activities that will improve the health of … Continue reading →

College tuition seems to go up every semester. We all know that the books that are required for classes at universities are expensive. The price of the student health insurance is about to increase. This is part of the Affordable Care Act, and it is to ensure that those policies will actually cover things that they are supposed to. Have you heard of mini-med health insurance? These types of plans have been referred to as “junk health insurance”. A mini-med plan will cover very little of a person’s health care needs, because of the incredibly low caps that the plans … Continue reading →

Starting this year, health insurance companies who fail to appropriately meet their medical loss ratio will have to give their customers a rebate. Texas is one of sixteen states that wants to delay having to actually pay out on rebates. The state has asked the federal government for permission to delay the rebate plan. The medical loss ratio is one of the health reform laws that comes from the Affordable Care Act. It was designed to protect consumers. Previous to this law, some health insurance companies were taking the money that they got from premiums, and spending the majority of … Continue reading →

The year 2011 has brought many changes to health insurance. Most, if not all of it, can be attributed to portions of the Affordable Care Act. There are still plenty of things about the American health care system that need to be improved. Even so, 2011 was definitely a year that brought many improvements to health insurance. This year, the Affordable Care Act brought Americans health reform laws that improved people’s ability to find health insurance coverage. It also improved health insurance by limiting some of the things that insurers can do, and changing how they do other things. 2011 … Continue reading →

Companies that offer employer sponsored health insurance are always looking for ways to lower the amount of money that they have to spend on it. There is a new trend for employers to charge higher premiums to workers who smoke, or who are obese. This decision is controversial. In the past few years, employers have been doing a variety of things to attempt to encourage their workers to become healthier. This isn’t because the corporation has developed a mother-like interest in their employees, or has a true interest in making the lives of their workers better. The real motivation has … Continue reading →