A new report out from the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) is already saving families considerable amounts of money – $2.1 Billion to be exact.
Half of those savings comes from an often underreported part of the health care law that requires insurance companies to give rebates to their members if they don’t spend at least 80% of their revenue on paying for medical services. The rate is even higher, 85%, for large group policies.
The other part $1 billion in estimated savings comes from lower premiums insurance companies set to meet the 80% requirement.
This is extremely welcome news for families given that insurance premiums have risen 131% since 1999.
But that’s not the end of the good news. California recently announced the rates for the insurance plans it will offer on its new insurance exchange as part of the ACA. Despite opponents of the law claiming the rates would cause “sticker shock”, the rates were actually much lower than expected.
As Obamacare continues to roll out across the country, expect more good news about affordable health insurance for working families.