Insurance commissioners to vote on spending requirements

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners will make a final vote on its recommendations for regulating how much insurers must spend on medical services, a key health law provision, Kaiser Health News reports. "After months of meetings and comments from industry and consumer representatives, NAIC committees drew up a set of draft recommendations, which will go to the group's executive committee for a final vote Thursday. The draft could be amended before the final vote. After the NAIC acts, the recommendations go to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who has the final say on the new rules" (Appleby, 10/20). 

Reuters: "Wall Street and healthcare advocates alike have been closely watching the process, which could severely alter the bottom line for insurers like Aetna Inc and WellPoint and shake up consumers' choice in insurance policies. ... Ahead of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' vote, insurers are pressing for last-minute changes they say are needed to stay competitive, including tax exemptions, a longer phase-in period, and a broader national assessment to see if companies are meeting the rules" (Heavey, 10/20).

The Hill: The law requires insurers to spend 80 percent to 85 percent of premiums on medical care, a proportion known as medical-loss ratio. "Two liberal groups on Wednesday called on state insurance commissioners to stiffen their spines and not cave in to industry pressure ahead of a major vote Thursday on health-reform regulations." The groups, Consumer Watchdog and Health Care for America Now, are calling on regulators to resist lobbying pressure from the industry (Pecquet, 10/20).

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This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.