Health care reform continues to evolve as the Health and Human Services revealed on August 17th, the new Summary of Benefit proposed regulations. As insurance brokers, we often find the Summary of Benefits confusing, written in legal ease language and almost impossible to compare one insurance contract with another. For all plans that renew on or after March, 2012, the insurance industry will be forced to make Summaries of Benefits more user friendly. The Summary can be no more than four pages, there is a $1,000 penalty placed on the insurer for noncompliance per failure, and the law is an insurer requirement and not an employer mandate.
We believe this piece of legislation is good for the consumer. As health insurance exchanges become closer to a reality in 2014, having a simple and concise summary of benefits for consumers to compare will only help the uninsured with a complex insurance purchase. For questions concerning health care reform, please do not hesitate to give us a call.
