Members of Congress and state insurance regulators are weighing whether to exempt agent and broker commissions from medical loss ratio calculation.

Under federal health reform insurers must spend 80 percent of individual and small-group premiums and 85 percent of large-group premiums on medical costs. Other expenses, including agent compensation must come from the administrative portion of medical loss ratio and is counted as a non-claims cost.

A House bill to exclude producer commissions from MLR formula has already been endorsed by a number of agent and broker groups. The bill, Access to Professional Health Insurance Advisors Act of 2011, was sponsored by Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and John Barrow, D-Ga.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

  • Critical BenefitsPRO information including cutting edge post-reform success strategies, access to educational webcasts and videos, resources from industry leaders, and informative Newsletters.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM, BenefitsPRO magazine and BenefitsPRO.com events
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including ThinkAdvisor.com and Law.com
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.