Your chance to comment on health care reform regulations--spread the word

[eridani]

The government in creating regulations for the insurance industry. As in all regulatory processes, there is a public comment period. The federal government is asking for public commenton regulations for the health reform law. No doubt the insurance industry has already cranked up its influence machine. Wouldn't it be great if every person who sees this email and every person who gets this email forwarded to them would write a comment, even one as simple as "you cannot trust the states to to monotir the insurance industry and you cannot trust the insurance industry to spend money on health care. Don't let them game the system by calling something health care when it is not. Don't let them pretend that dollars spent on 'utilization review' and other ways to deny health care are dollars that should be included as medical losses. Those dollars are for no reason except to line the pockets of the insurance executives and boost their bottom line."


The announcements in the two links below explain how to comment to HHS. Both requests surround consumer protections against insurance industry abuses. The comment rule procedure is not self-evident or easy so at the bottom there are some links and instructions to make it easier.

The first requestis for comments on medical loss ratio requirements, that is, how insurers spend premium dollars. Health reform requires plans in the individual and small group markets to spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on clinical expenses and activities to improve quality. Plans in the large group market are required to spend at least 85 percent of premium dollars on these two things.

HHS wants comments on how the new standards compare to existing state rules and insurer practices, and how clinical expenses and activities to improve quality should be defined.

The second requestis for comments on premium review. Health reform provides states with grants to enhance their rate review processes and requires health insurers to justify "unreasonable" premium increases to states and to HHS.

HHS wants comments on rate review processes now in place, what increases should be considered unreasonable and subject to scrutiny, what information should be made public, and how grant money should be allocated.


http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480ad7216

http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#submitComment?R=0900006480ad7202