2010, at least 64 percent of all credible insurers, covering at least 77 percent of
lives, would have met or exceeded the 2011 PPACA MLR standards (see
table 1).14,15 At the market level, a higher percentage of large and small group
insurers met or exceeded the 2011 standards compared to individual market
insurers. The percentage of insurers in the large and small group markets that met
or exceeded the standards were 77 and 70 percent, respectively, compared to
43 percent in the individual market. Because more lives were covered by large and
small group market insurers, most covered lives were associated with insurers that
would have met or exceeded the standards.http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1290r.pdf (from p.6)
The MLR requirements are significant, but they are not going to crush the health insurance industry.They will make a big difference in the individual market, but that market will no longer exist in its current form after 2014. The creation of the insurance exchanges essentially makes group insurance available to everyone.