Rate Review & the 80/20 Rule (2024)

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Rate Review & the 80/20 Rule

The health care law provides 2 ways to hold insurance companies accountable and help keep your costs down: Rate Review and the 80/20 rule.

Rate Review

Rate Review helps protect you from unreasonable rate increases. Insurance companies must now publicly explain any rate increase of 15% or more before raising your premium. This does not apply to grandfathered plans.

80/20 Rule

The 80/20 Rule generally requires insurance companies to spend at least 80% of the money they take in from premiums on health care costs and quality improvement activities. The other 20% can go to administrative, overhead, and marketing costs.

The 80/20 rule is sometimes known as Medical Loss Ratio, or MLR. If an insurance company uses 80 cents out of every premium dollar to pay for your medical claims and activities that improve the quality of care, the company has a Medical Loss Ratio of 80%.

Insurance companies selling to large groups (usually more than 50 employees) must spend at least 85% of premiums on care and quality improvement.

If your insurance company doesn’t meet these requirements, you’ll get a rebate on part of the premium that you paid.

Will I get a rebate check from my insurance company?

If your insurance company doesn’t meet its 80/20 targets for the year, you’ll get back some of the premium that you paid.

You may see the rebate in a number of ways:

  • A rebate check in the mail
  • A lump-sum deposit into the same account that was used to pay the premium, if you paid by credit card or debit card
  • A direct reduction in your future premium
  • Your employer may also use one of the above rebate methods, or apply the rebate in a way that benefits employees

If you or your employer will get a rebate, your insurance company must notify you by August 1.

If you have an individual insurance policy, you’ll get the rebate directly from your insurance company.

For small group and large group plans, the rebate is usually paid to the employer. It may use one of the above rebate methods, or apply the rebate in a way that benefits employees.

FYI: The 80/20 rebate rules don’t apply when an insurance company has fewer than 1000 enrollees in a particular state or market.

Does this apply to my plan?

It depends.

For Rate Review: These requirements don’t apply to grandfathered plans. Check your plan’s materials or ask your employer or your benefits administrator to find out if your health plan is grandfathered.

For the 80/20 Rule: These rights apply to all individual, small group, and large group health plans, whether your plan is grandfathered or not.

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Rate Review & the 80/20 Rule (2024)

FAQs

How to calculate 80/20 rule for insurance? ›

The 80/20 Rule generally requires insurance companies to spend at least 80% of the money they take in from premiums on health care costs and quality improvement activities. The other 20% can go to administrative, overhead, and marketing costs. The 80/20 rule is sometimes known as Medical Loss Ratio, or MLR.

What does having 80/20 coverage mean in Ramsey? ›

If you have an 80/20 coinsurance plan, that means you'll be responsible for $500, and your health insurance will take care of the rest. Whew! You'll keep paying your coinsurance rate of medical expenses for the year until you reach your out-of-pocket maximum.

How does 80/20 health insurance work? ›

Simply put, 80/20 coinsurance means your insurance company pays 80% of the total bill, and you pay the other 20%. Remember, this applies after you've paid your deductible.

What is a good loss ratio for health insurance? ›

The ACA requires health insurers in the individual and small group markets to spend at least 80% of their premium revenues on clinical care and quality improvements. For the large group market, the MLR requirement is 85%.

What are the 80/20 rule real examples? ›

80% of your weekly tasks affect 20% of your future. 80% of grief is caused by 20% of people in your life. 80% of alarms will be set off by 20% of potential causes. 80% of the energy in a combustion engine produces 20% output.

What is the 80/20 formula? ›

The 80-20 rule is a principle that states 80% of all outcomes are derived from 20% of causes. It's used to determine the factors (typically, in a business situation) that are most responsible for success and then focus on them to improve results.

How does an 80 20 plan with a $5000 deductible work? ›

That leaves you with $5,000 of financial responsibility for covered medical expenses before you reach the plan's maximum out-of-pocket cap of $6,000 for the year. With 20% coinsurance, you pay 20% of the expense while the insurer pays 80%.

How does 80/20 insurance work with deductible? ›

You have an “80/20” plan. That means your insurance company pays for 80 percent of your costs after you've met your deductible. You pay for 20 percent. Coinsurance is different and separate from any copayment.

What is a good amount of coverage? ›

As a rough rule of thumb, auto insurance experts recommend liability coverage of at least 100/300/100 — meaning, $100,000 in body injury liability insurance per person, $300,000 in bodily injury liability per accident and $100,000 in property damage liability per accident.

Is Medicare an 80/20 plan? ›

When a physician accepts “assignment,” he or she agrees to accept the Medicare approved charge as full payment for the services provided. Medicare pays 80% of the approved charge. Either the patient or supplemental insurance pays the remaining 20% co-payment.

Which is better, 70/30 or 80/20? ›

The main difference between the 70/30 and 80/20 asset allocation models is how much risk you're taking. With an 80/20 allocation, you're devoting a larger share of your money to stocks, which can mean greater exposure to stock market volatility.

How to calculate copay? ›

Since deductibles and copayments are fixed amounts, it doesn't take a lot of math to figure out how much to pay. A $30 copayment to fill a prescription or see a doctor will cost you $30 no matter how much the total bill for the prescription or office visit was.

What is a bad loss ratio in insurance? ›

Insurance loss ratio

Loss ratios for property and casualty insurance (e.g. motor car insurance) typically range from 70% to 99%. Such companies are collecting premiums more than the amount paid in claims. Conversely, insurers that consistently experience high loss ratios may be in bad financial health.

What is the 85% MLR rule? ›

If an insurance company spends less than 80% (85% in the large group market) of premium on medical care and efforts to improve the quality of care, they must refund the portion of premium that exceeded this limit. This rule is commonly known as the 80/20 rule or the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) rule.

Is the amount you have to pay before insurance pays? ›

Your deductible is the amount you must pay each year before your insurance begins to pay. If you have a grandfathered plan, you may have separate deductibles for prescription drugs and hospital care. Some policies have no deductible. Read your policy to learn how your deductible works.

How to calculate insurance formula? ›

We'll focus on four strategies to determine how so much life insurance cover you'll require:
  1. Human Life Value. The current value of your potential profits, expenditures, debts, and savings is calculated using the Human Life Value (HLV). ...
  2. Income Replacement Value. ...
  3. Underwriters Thumb Rule. ...
  4. Premium as Percentage Income.

How to calculate insurance ratio? ›

The loss ratio formula is insurance claims paid plus adjustment expenses divided by total earned premiums. For example, if a company pays $80 in claims for every $160 in collected premiums, the loss ratio would be 50%.

How do I calculate how much insurance I need? ›

10 times your income

Perhaps the most well-known calculation model is multiplying your annual income by 10. For example, if you make $100,000 per year, you'll need $1 million in life insurance. In another version of this rule, you'll add an extra $100,000 per child to cover the costs of their education.

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