Americans for Limited Government Submits Comment to HHS on Obamacare’s Medical Loss Ratio Regulation
In August 2010, Americans for Limited Government Research Foundation set up a program to monitor Obamacare Regulations. A primary goal was to provide a voice for limited government in the regulatory public commenting process.
So, once again, we’ve submitted a comment on another Obamacare regulation. This regulation, though, is the granddaddy of them all—the Medical Loss Ratio regulation. More than any other Obamacare regulation, this regulation has the power to destabilize entire state health insurance markets. Stating that the regulation will do exactly that, two states have already applied for a waiver from this regulation for their Individual markets and the Department of Health and Human Services expects up to 18 more to do the same.
There is plenty in this regulation to criticize—and we spent 18 pages doing just that. Here is a short list:
- For the purposes of this regulation, it changes the meaning of “federal taxes” as written in the text of the law to only mean income and investment taxes.
- It creates a financial disincentive for insurance companies to spend any more money on Anti-fraud efforts than what can actually be recovered.
- It places the jobs of thousands of insurance agents at risk.
- State Insurance commissioners have warned of the real potential it has to destabilize state health insurance markets.