rate review

Bob Semro's piece on how the Affordable Care Act is saving money for Americans  (Americans save $2.1 billion on insurance premiums, thanks to ACA) was posted as part of Viewpoints on the Kaiser Health News website.

Saturday is the third anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act. In that time, the law has survived legal challenges that went all of the way to the U.S. Supreme Court as well as opposition during the 2012 elections. Most of the Affordable Care Act will be implemented by the end of 2014.

For most Americans, when it comes to the Affordable Care Act, the proof is in the pudding: Will it make health care more affordable? Will it save me money?

Here's a number: $2.1 billion. That's the amount saved in 2012 by consumers because of two provisions of the ACA, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. That's money in the pocketbook for millions of Americans, and it supports the notion that insurance premiums can be better managed.

In our first Straight Talk email, we addressed the minimal impact of federal health care reforms on increasing insurance premiums in Colorado (representing under 5% of rate increases).

But what does the federal law do – in concert with a recent state law – to help rein in those increases? One of several tools provided by the new law is "rate review."

What do new federal health care reforms and existing state law do to help rein in health insurance premium increases?

One tool is the use of "rate review." Prior to 2008, Colorado was a "file and use" state. File and use required insurance companies to file rates and rating data with the Divivison of Insurance; rates could be implemented before they were reviewed, but if they were determined to be unjustified, corrective action could be imposed.