One of the Affordable Care Act’s most important consumer protection provisions requires health insurers to spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on actual medical care, not wasteful administration, marketing or executive pay and bonuses. The health care reform law requires insurers that do not meet the 80 percent threshold (also known as the medical loss ratio) to provide rebates to their customers.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says consumers should receive those rebates later this year.