Cross-posted at Immizen.com
Today I got two insurance letters in the mail. One from my daughter’s Cigna insurance reporting that, because the insurance company spent 74.7% of premium Dollars on health care, which is below the 80% requirement, it will be issuing a rebate of 5.3% of the health care premium. The other letter is from United Healthcare and has similar content but does not specify the amount yet, and anyways, that rebate check goes to the small business that employs me and pays 100% of my health insurance.
What does this mean? It means that people like me, who currently have private insurance, will experience a measurable monetary benefit thanks to the new health care reform law. It also means that owners of small business who care to insure their employees will also have a reason to be more appreciative of the new law.
According to the Orlando Sentinel:
Floridians can expect to receive $149 million in health-insurance rebates this year from more than a dozen insurance companies, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation released Thursday. The rebates come from health insurers that spent more on administrative expenses and profits than allowed under health-care overhaul laws that took effect last year.
In the Sunshine State, 1.75 million enrollees will divvy up the rebates. Among those who pay for their own health insurance without the help of an employer, 38 percent should get some money back, an average of $153 per covered member, according to the Kaiser analysis.
That means, in a family of four where everyone is covered, the rebate could exceed $600, said Gary Claxton, co-author of the Kaiser report.
What is best about this clause of the law is that it does not require from insured people to drive to some office somewhere in town, show a photo ID, fill out paper work, etc to get the check. No. This is how it happens:
Consumers don't need to take any action to get what's due them. The insurance companies must tell them by Aug. 1 if they will receive a rebate and how much.
I can imagine how outraged Rick Scott and his Teabagger friends must feel that "nationally, consumers and businesses will receive $1.3 billion back”. But we don’t hear a peep from them. I wonder why? It is also interesting to note that Florida's insurance companies are among the most excessive when it comes to administrative expenses and profits:
Florida's projected rebate of $149 million is among the nation's largest, second only to Texas, where consumers and businesses are due $186 million, according to the Kaiser report. Hawaii is the only state where no insurer is expected to issue a rebate.
I checked online to find some or any news about what Republicans or teabaggers are thinking or feeling now that they too are getting the rebate checks. I found nothing. I would have expected to hear that the taebaggers are coming up with a resolution to shred those checks into pieces as a protest against Obamacare. But no, can’t find evidence of that. If you find something let me know.
6:37 PM PT: Update:
I am stilll looking for Republican opinions on the rebate checks. Can't find any, but found this nice letter to the editor, titled "Healthcare Surprise": http://www.masoncountynews.com/...
7:32 PM PT: Update 2:
Recommended list??? Really? First time ever since I joined in 2004, left and rejoined again. Thanks to all of you. Love reading your comments!