Health plans reimbursed customers approximately $478 million in 2014, translating to about $129 per family receiving a refund, according to data aggregation firm Mark Farrah Associates.
The findings were released in its annual Healthcare Business Strategy Report, which summarizes key findings in the Department of Health and Human Services' Medical Loss Ratio documentation. The MLR provision is a part of the Affordable Care Act, and requires insurers to pay customer rebates if they don't spend specified percentages of their income from health care premiums.
Customers were rebated more money last year than in 2013, the data finds. In 2013, customers were reimbursed $335 million, or about $80 per family.
MLR premiums and rebate figures were collected for all healthcare providers in all states. California led the nation in MLR rebates with $98 million; Florida came in second, at about $60 million.
In addition, MFA broke down the findings by individual, small groups and large groups. Rebates in 2014 for the individual segment amounted to $238 million, or 0.5 percent of the $51.5 billion collected in premiums. Small group rebates amounted to $142 million -- 0.2 percent of the $70.2 billion collected -- and the $203 billion large group segment netted $90.5 million.
"Overall," said the report, "the rebates paid to consumers were a relatively small portion of industry premiums."
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