Abstract of the Week
Posted at 3:15 p.m. on Feb. 22
The Department of Health and Human Services released its annual report on “rate review,” a provision of President Obama’s health care reform law that allows the department to review certain double-digit premium increases by health insurers.
From the executive summary: “To date, Americans have saved an estimated $1 billion on their health insurance premiums thanks to rate review. State-based Rate Review Programs were created or strengthened by the health care law… Forty-four states have programs to review the proposed increases; in a state that does not have such a program, HHS reviews proposed increases… To date, the Rate Review Grants Program has awarded $160 million in grants to 45 states, the District of Columbia, and several territories.”
The Hill: “The average premium increase in 2012 was 30 percent lower than in 2010… Of the rate increases insurance plans filed last year, 34 percent sought to raise premiums by 10 percent or more, the department said — down from 75 percent in 2010.”
