Washington, D.C. – Congressman Rick Berg and Senator John Hoeven today voiced their disappointment in the recent decision by Department of Health and Human Resources Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) to deny North Dakota’s application to waive the new Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) requirements as implemented by President Obama’s new health care law.

In a letter sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Berg and Hoeven stated their concern that the decision to deny North Dakota’s request had the potential to seriously jeopardize North Dakotans’ access to affordable health care services.

Berg and Hoeven also expressed that the MLR provision would seriously undermine North Dakota’s efforts to expand the individual insurance market and endanger further expansion of consumer choices and plan affordability in North Dakota’s individual market. 

“We are extremely disappointed to hear that North Dakota is the first state to be denied an MLR waiver,” Berg and Hoeven said. “In addition to putting government between doctors and their patients, it is clear that this new law will actually discourage the kind of competition that will help to hold down costs, improve choice and promote quality care.”

North Dakota requested a waiver from the MLR requirements on March 18, 2011 and received notice on July 22, 2011 that the request had been denied. North Dakota is the first state to be denied an MLR waiver.

A copy of the letter is below:

The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius

Secretary

Department of Health and Human Services

200 Independence Avenue SW

Washington, DC 20201

Dear Secretary Sebelius,

We are writing today regarding the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight’s (CCIIO) recent decision to deny North Dakota’s application to waive the new Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) requirements as implemented by the President’s new health care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA).  We are deeply concerned with the laws and this decision that has the potential to seriously jeopardize North Dakotans’ access to affordable health care services.

Throughout the debate on health care reform, President Obama repeatedly promised that if you like your health insurance, you can keep it.  However, since enactment of the President’s health care law, we have seen numerous instances to the contrary.   Recent studies reveal that the new mandates will likely cause employers to drop health insurance for their employees in favor of paying a penalty rather than the full cost of health insurance coverage.  Even more recently, the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) conducted a survey of 750 small businesses revealing that one in ten small businesses have already lost their current coverage and that over 25 percent of small businesses were very likely to drop coverage in the future should their employees become eligible for a government subsidy to participate in the insurance exchanges.  Each of these changes underscores the fact that despite what the President said, the new health care reform law does not protect consumer choice or guarantee that if you like your plan, you can keep it.

The denial of North Dakota’s application for a waiver from the law’s MLR requirements is yet another example of how the President’s health care law jeopardizes North Dakotans’ health care choices.  In North Dakota, we have worked to expand the individual market in the last several years which has been extremely beneficial.  The President’s health care law’s MLR provision will seriously undermine these recent improvements and endanger further expansion of consumer choices and plan affordability in North Dakota’s individual market.  Additionally, MLR requirements affect consumers’ access to health insurance agents which provide the face-to-face interaction many North Dakotans’ prefer when selecting a health insurance plan.    

In sum, we are extremely disappointed to hear that North Dakota is the first state to be denied an MLR waiver.  It is clear that this new law fails to expand access and consumer choice and instead restricts North Dakota’s ability to create new and innovative solutions. The President’s health care law and Washington’s one-size-fits-all approach has not worked and will not work. 

Sincerely,

Rick Berg                                                                              John Hoeven

Member of Congress                                                     United States Senator

cc:           Dr. Donald Berwick, Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Mr. Steven Larsen, Deputy Administrator and Director, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight

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