Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens announced Wednesday his plan to request a waiver from the federally imposed Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) standard for 2011, 2012 and 2013 found in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) or what is commonly known as Obama Care.

In his letter of transmittal requesting the waiver to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Hudgens said, "Although I believe that ACA is unconstitutional and fully support the various legal challenges to its constitutionality, it is my duty as Commissioner to do everything possible to protect the interests of Georgia citizens and the viability of the Georgia insurance market."

According to Hudgens the purpose of Georgia's request for an MLR waiver is three-fold. First, is to protect Georgians with health issues who are currently insured in the individual market. For these individuals, Hudgens said, it is imperative that their current insurer remain in the Georgia individual health market.

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
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.