(Arlington, Va.) – Georgia Representative Tom Price, M.D., proposed an amendment to H.R. 1, the continuing resolution to fund the government through the remainder of the fiscal year that would prevent the implementation and enforcement of the medical loss ratio (MLR) requirements in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
Janet Trautwein, CEO of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), made the following statement in response to House Amendment 409:
"We fully support and applaud the efforts of Congressman Price to halt the implementation of PPACA’s MLR requirements, as well as other efforts to fix many of the inherent problems with PPACA.
"The MLR requirement is having a devastating financial impact on the country’s approximately half-million licensed professional health insurance agents and brokers and their employees and clients—the millions of employers and individual Americans who purchase private health insurance coverage each year.
"MLR regulation as it currently stands is causing disruption in all insurance markets. Insurers are being forced to eliminate or reduce key business areas that help consumers and contain costs, like fraud prevention and claims management. The new requirements also limit the ability of insurers to offer low-cost plan alternatives, and over time, they will reduce the number of insurers willing to write health insurance in the individual and small-group markets. This will leave consumers underserved, reduce competition and cause countless insured individuals to lose their health coverage.
"MLR requirements also significantly and negatively impact access to health insurance agents and brokers. Agents are seeing as much as a 50 percent reduction in business income. This means that fewer agents and brokers will be able to afford to stay in business, and many will have to begin reducing services to their clients and cutting jobs, at the very time our economy is the weakest and health insurance purchasers need help the most."
About NAHU:
The National Association of Health Underwriters represents 100,000 professional health insurance agents and brokers who provide insurance for millions of Americans. NAHU is headquartered in Arlington, VA. For more information about NAHU, please contact Kelly Loussedes at 703-276-3835 or e-mail kloussedes@nahu.org.
