HHS details consumer savings from lower premiums, rebates

A Health and Human Services Department analysis estimated that consumers have saved an estimated $2.1 billion from the health law's consumer protections, resulting in lower premiums and rebates.

Modern Healthcare: Studies Find Massive Premium Savings, Lower Rate Hikes
New analysis from HHS found that the 2010 healthcare law's insurance reforms have saved consumers an estimated $2.1 billion through lower premiums and rebates, while a separate report said health insurance premiums for families rose by 4% in 2012. Since September 2011, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's rate-review provision has required insurance companies planning to raise premium rates by 10% or more in the individual and small group markets to justify the need for those rate hikes (Zigmond, 9/11). 

Politico Pro: HHS Breaks Down $1B In Rate Review Savings
Of the $1 billion in savings from premium rate reviews over the past year, about 70 percent came from reviews at the state level and the rest came from HHS reviews, agency officials said in a conference call this afternoon. CCIIO Director Gary Cohen said that 64 percent of requested double-digit premium increases nationwide were either withdrawn or reduced. The $1 billion in savings is for all rate reviews -; both the ones over 10 percent that the federal health law made mandatory and lesser hikes as well. While many states have been conducting rate reviews for years before health reform, the Affordable Care Act provided funding to beef up operations in states that could not afford it before, said Cohen and Teresa Miller, acting director of the oversight group at CCIIO (Norman, 9/11).