Small businesses and individuals will be receiving a rebate from Blue Shield by August 1st. Employers, please review the details here, about valid ways to return these refunded premiums to your employees. Reducing the cost of future insurance coverage is a legitimate use of the rebate.
From Blue Shield:
Medical Loss Ratio Rebates and Notifications
Last month, we informed you that Blue Shield reported its 2012 Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) by market segment to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). We are now sharing our rebate information with you.
Blue Shield did not meet the MLR thresholds for the following market segments:
Individual and Family plans regulated by the Department of Insurance (DOI)
The MLR threshold for this market segment is 80%. Blue Shield reported an MLR of 78.0%. The Individual and Family plan MLR was 2% below the 80% threshold. As a result certain subscribers will receive premium rebates by August 1, 2013. The 2% of premium revenue equals $13.3 million that will be returned to 226,034 Individual and Family plan subscribers who were enrolled in the Blue Shield Life plans that did not meet the MLR threshold. The average rebate amount per subscriber is about $59.
Small Business plans (50 or fewer employees) regulated by the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC)
The MLR threshold for this market segment is 80%. Blue Shield reported an MLR of 76.6%. The Small Business MLR was 3.4% below the 80% threshold. As a result, certain subscribers will receive dues rebates by August 1, 2013. The 3.4% of dues revenue equals $24.5 million that will be returned to 29,232 Small Business policyholders who were enrolled in the Blue Shield plans that did not meet the MLR threshold. The average rebate amount per Small Business policyholder is about $827.
