FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | October 5, 2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the global consumer advocacy group Consumer Choice Center launched a policy primer on the feasibility of enforcing medical-loss ratios and rebates for dental insurance in order to benefit patients.
The primer examines how medical-loss ratio is used in other medical categories, international comparisons, and how it would lead to a more open and competitive dental insurance market that would unlock savings for patients.
Yaël Ossowski, deputy director of the Consumer Choice Center, explains:
“Medical-loss-ratio requirements of the Affordable Care Act for general health insurance were a welcome first step to a more competitive industry. Yet more should be done to contain costs, open markets, and subject healthcare and health insurance to real competition, and that should be translated to the dental insurance market as well,” said Ossowski.
“Efforts are ongoing across states to hold insurers accountable by removing state barriers to competition, and to enforce medical-loss ratios and rebates so patients can actually get the care they pay for and deserve.
“Large scale reforms aimed at decoupling insurance from employers, providing more direct-to-consumer options that eschew insurance, and removing red tape at both the state and federal level would be long overdue reforms to empower consumers within a competitive and thriving market for dental care.
“On that path, we believe medical-loss ratio requirements and rebates would be a quick and easy measure to keep insurance accountable, promote competition, and ultimately unlock savings for patients,” concluded Ossowski.
By passing state-level medical-loss-ratio requirements for dental insurers, legislators could ensure that consumers and patients profit from a competitive and affordable market. This would serve the following benefits:
- Keep dental insurance accountable
- Unlock benefit spending for patients
- Promote competition among insurers
READ THE PRIMER HERE
Contact
Yaël Ossowski, Deputy Director
The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva, Lima, Brasilia, and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org.
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