Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Rates Act

Summary

Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Rates Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to declare that federal requirements that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) review unreasonable premium increases in health care coverage do not prohibit a state from imposing additional rate requirements on health insurance issuers that are more protective of consumers. The review is expanded to include all rate increases, not only premium increases. HHS or the relevant state insurance commissioner or state regulator must ensure that any excessive, unjustified, or unfairly discriminatory rates are corrected before, or as soon as possible after, implementation, including through mechanisms such as denying rates, modifying rates, or requiring rebates to consumers. HHS may apply civil monetary penalties to health insurance issuers that fail to comply with a corrective action taken by HHS and may make the plan involved ineligible for classification as a qualified health plan. HHS must determine whether HHS or the state insurance commissioner or regulator will undertake such corrective actions based on whether the state can adequately undertake the actions. This Act applies to health plans grandfathered under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

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Timeline

1. 8 October 2015

   Introduced

   Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S7275)

   Source: IntroReferral

2. 8 October 2015

   Introduced

   Introduced in Senate

   Source: IntroReferral

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

• Introduced in Senate · 8 October 2015 · Official file

Documents

3 official files

• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 8 October 2015

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 8 October 2015

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 8 October 2015

  Open at official source

Sponsors

• Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA] · D · Sponsor
• Rep. Boxer, Barbara [D-CA-6] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT] · D · Sponsor
• Sheldon Whitehouse · D · Sponsor
• · sshr00 · Standing

Related records

• related to → Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Rates Act
• related to ← Health Insurance Rate Review Act