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A Refund from Your Health Insurance Company? Thank the Affordable Care Act

Summary: 
Thanks to a provision in the Affordable Care Act, if your insurance company isn’t spending at least 80 percent of your premium dollars on medical care, they have to send you some money back.
President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the Affordable Care Act's Medical Loss Ratio Refunds

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the Affordable Care Act's Medical Loss Ratio Refunds, in the East Room of the White House, July 18, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Did you know that 8.5 million Americans are getting a refund this year from their health insurance companies?

Thanks to a provision in the Affordable Care Act, if your insurance company isn’t spending at least 80 percent of your premium dollars on medical care, they have to send you some money back.

Today in the East Room, President Obama explained that “last year, millions of Americans opened letters from their insurance companies -- but instead of the usual dread that comes from getting a bill they were pleasantly surprised with a check. In 2012, 13 million rebates went out, in all 50 states." Another 8.5 million rebates are being sent out this summer, averaging around $100 each, he said.

Morgan, a woman from Maryland who has been purchasing her own health insurance for many years, introduced the President today. She said that after she got a rebate for the first time, “it felt like someone was actually being held accountable for the dollars I was spending on health care.”

That’s one of core principles of the Affordable Care Act, President Obama said today – “holding insurance companies and providers accountable so that we all get a better deal.” 

So that’s just one way this law is helping middle-class families. But it represents everything the Affordable Care Act means for folks who already have insurance:  better benefits, stronger protections, more bang for your buck -- the basic notion that you ought to get what you pay for. 

Learn more about how the Affordable Care Act is saving Americans billions of dollars.