More than 3M to get health care rebates

WASHINGTON -- More than 3 million health insurance policyholders and thousands of employers will share $1.3 billion in rebates this year, thanks to President Barack Obama's health care law, a nonpartisan research group said yesterday.

The rebates should average $127 for the people who get them, and Democrats are hoping they'll send an election-year message that the health care overhaul is starting to pay dividends for consumers. Critics of the law call that wishful thinking.

The law requires insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they collect on medical care and quality improvement or return the difference to consumers and employers. Although many large employer plans already meet that standard, it's the first time the government has imposed such a requirement on the entire health insurance industry.

"This is one of the most tangible benefits of the health reform law that consumers will have seen to date," said Larry Levitt, an expert on private insurance with the Kaiser Family Foundation, which analyzed industry filings with state health insurance commissioners. Kaiser is a nonpartisan information clearinghouse on the nation's health care system.

Still, with employer coverage averaging about $5,400 a year for an individual, $15,100 for a family, $127 isn't a whole lot of money. It amounts to 2 percent of an individual plan, and a little less than 1 percent of the family premium.

And the insurance industry says premiums are likely to go up overall as a result of new benefits and other requirements of the law.