Feds Deny Florida’s Request For Waiver From MLR Rule
The Department of Health and Human Services denied Florida's request on the basis that complying with the health law's medical-loss ratio rule would not destabilize the insurance market.
CQ HealthBeat: HHS Denies Florida A Waiver On Medical Loss Ratio Rule
Health and Human Services officials Thursday denied the state of Florida a waiver from the health care overhaul’s medical loss ratio requirements after the agency determined that requiring insurers to meet the new standard would not destabilize the market. Florida becomes the fifth state to have its waiver denied. Steve Larsen, chief of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, said in a conference call with reporters that beyond his department’s review of the financial evidence surrounding this request, his office received a petition from more than 3,000 Florida residents as well as letters from more than 20 consumer groups who opposed the waiver. That represents the most consumer input on a waiver application that federal officials have ever received, Larsen said (Bunis, 12/15).
The Hill: Obama Administration Rejects Florida's Request For Health Law Waiver
The Obama administration on Thursday rejected Florida's request for a waiver from Democrats' healthcare law. Florida is the fifth state where insurers have been denied an exemption from the medical loss ratio provision that requires them to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care or give rebates to consumers. Florida had asked for an MLR adjustment allowing insurers to meet lower thresholds of 68 percent in 2011, 72 percent in 2012 and 76 percent in 2013 (Pecquet, 12/15).
Modern Healthcare: Fla. Denied Bid For Exception On MLR Standard
Florida is the latest state to be denied an exception to the medical-loss ratio standard that requires individual and small-group plans to spend at least 80% of premium dollars on medical care, a CMS official said. ... The decision not to grant Florida's request is for the current calendar year, but "the impact of our decision is to ensure consumers get the benefits this year and through 2014," Steve Larsen, director of CMS' Center for Consumer Insurance & Information Oversight, said during a call with reporters Thursday (Zigmond, 12/15).
Health News Florida: Feds To FL: 1 Yes, 1 No
One ruling from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) allows the state to extend its controversial Medicaid Reform Demonstration program – which the state now calls the Medicaid Pilot -- through June 2014. But the extension came with a raft of conditions that are aimed at protecting patients. For example, HHS said plans can no longer set an arbitrary cap on spending per-patient. The second ruling denied the state's request to waive rules on insurer spending that are part of the Affordable Care Act (Gentry, 12/15).