The Indiana Department of Insurance is asking federal regulators to waive the new minimum medical loss ratio (MLR) requirement for insurers in the Indiana individual health insurance market.
Indiana Insurance Commissioner Stephen Robertson will be asking federal regulators to phase in higher MLR levels, rather than imposing a strict cut-off this year.
The Indiana department supports efforts to challenge the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) as a whole, Robertson says in a statement.
"But, if [PPACA] remains the law of the land, I must do everything in my power to protect Hoosiers and the health insurance market from its unintended consequences," Robertson says.
PPACA requires health insurers to spend 80% of individual health insurance policy revenue on health care and quality improvement efforts or else provide rebates.
The Indiana department has prepared a MLR rule effect analysis that shows that 5 carriers report more than $10 million in annual individual health premium revenue in the state. Together, the carriers account for about 85% of the state's estimated $446 million in total annual individual health premium revenue.