This summer, Americans across the country are receiving a new set of benefits from the Affordable Care Act.
One of the biggest changes has to do with your health care premiums.
Because of the new health care law, insurance providers are now required to devote at least 80 percent of the premiums you pay to your health care — not to advertising, or administrative costs, or salaries for their CEOs.
Providers can make sure they meet that standard by lowering your rates or improving your care, but right now, companies that aren’t meeting the standard are actually providing rebates to their customers. Nearly 13 million Americans will receive more than $1 billion from insurance companies this summer.
If you’re one of the people on the receiving end of these refunds, we want to hear from you.
Tell us why better health care is important for your family.
Part of the goal of this reform is to make health insurance transparent. Consumers deserve to know exactly how much insurance providers are spending on health care and quality improvements and what they’re spending on other things.
That’s why we’re reaching out to you — we’ll use your comments to help to tell this story on the White House website.
We’ve also filmed a White Board video with Nancy-Ann DeParle, President Obama’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, to help explain the reform and why it matters.
So take two minutes to watch Nancy-Ann, then let us know if you’re one of the Americans who is getting a little money back from the health insurance companies: