Jul 10, 2012

ACA Starts To Pay Off

Don't let the Repubs know, but Obamacare is starting to come thru in a way that's gonna piss off "conservatives" somethin' powerful.


A friend in Charlottesville is a small business owner; single, 2 not-quite-grown-and-gone kids.  She's almost always somewhere between OK and Ah Crap, with the occasional tight-roping along the edge of Holy Fuck.  The way an awful lot of people have had to live for  a good 20 years or more.

Today, she showed me this little slice from her insurance carrier, informing her that they've cut her a rebate check because they didn't quite meet the new 80/20 Rule.  Under ACA, insurers have to maintain a Medical Loss Ratio of 80%:20%.  Simply put, of all the dollars in premiums they collect, they get to keep 20% of it for Admin and Salaries and Bonuses and Shareholder bennies (profit), etc - but they have to pay out at least 80% of that money to Healthcare Providers (docs, nurses, hospitals, etc) in the form of Medical Care Claims.  If they don't come up to that 80%, they have to divvy up the leftover money and pay it back to their subscribers.  So my friend is getting a check for about 80 bucks.  She won't be vacationing in St Bart's or putting in a pool, but it's better than it was and that's good for now.

I wonder if any of my "conservative" friends have gotten the same thing - and if they have, I wonder if I'll ever hear about it.

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