Association offers draft of new insurance rule

INDIANAPOLIS — An association charged with shaping a key insurance regulation for health care reform says the government should consider market stability when it carries out the new rule, which could lead to consumer rebates.

Starting next year, the new health care law will require insurers to spend a certain percentage of the premiums they collect on health care or return some of that money to consumers. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners says the government should be flexible about how these medical loss ratios are calculated in each state. It worries that insurers may leave certain markets if the ratios are too hard to meet, especially for small-group and individual coverage.

The association also says insurers can count things like health care hotlines as an expense, as long as they focus on care quality.