The Senate and House majority leaders at the time of ObamaCare’s passage were from Nevada and San Francisco, respectively. They were two of the most involved legislators in passing the law, despite public outcry and warnings from those of us who read the bill and said that some of the requirements of it would not fly. Now the news is that the state of Nevada has secured a waiver for the MLR requirements:
Nevada’s Insurance Division had appealed to the feds to reduce the federal requirement that health plans serving people who buy insurance on their own must spend at least 80 percent of the money they collect on medical expenses. Under the national rule, companies that don’t spend that percentage of revenue on medical costs have to cut policyholders rebate checks starting this year.
Nevada asked that requirement be reduced to 72 percent for one year, arguing that top insurance providers would be so strapped to make the payments that they’d exit the state market.
Health and Human Services didn’t fully buy that argument, but did agree to reduce the requirement to 75 percent for a year, expressing concern about what might happen to people with policies from insurers Golden Rule and Aetna if they didn’t.
The waivers in Pelosi’s district pertained to a different requirement in the health care law dealing with annual benefit limits. The latest set brings the total number of such exemptions since the law’s implementation to 1,372 nationwide. More than 3 million people are enrolled in plans affected by these waivers.
It appears that George W. Bush isn’t the only one being vindicated these days.
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