The unintended consequences of mandating health insurance administrative costs

I was pleasantly surprised to open a letter from my health insurer only to discover a check made out to me, for $113. Apparently BlueCross’s Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) was too high, according to the Affordable Care Act, and so the government was forcing BlueCross to mail me a partial refund.
I will not be depositing this check, as it is BlueCross’s money that the government is forcing them to send me at gunpoint. (Even here, it appears BlueCross may have to ultimately credit my account anyway, but I can at least make a symbolic protest.) Although the provision is undoubtedly a great political stroke—most Americans will love Obama for getting them some of “their” money back from the big insurance companies—it will have unintended consequences. Meddling from Washington will only lead to higher insurance premiums and worse service.
Here is how my letter from BlueCross explained the check they had sent me:

This letter is to inform you that you will receive a rebate of a portion of your health insurance premiums. … The Affordable Care Act requires BlueCross … to issue a rebate to you if BlueCross … does not spend at least 80 percent of the premiums it receives on health care services, such as doctors and hospital bills, and activities to improve health care quality, such as efforts to improve patient safety. No more than 20 percent of premiums may be spent on administrative costs such as salaries, sales and advertising.

Read more: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/insurance-refunds-at-gunpoint/