The federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has deemed two proposed rate hikes by a Missouri insurer as unreasonable.
Time Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Assurant, has proposed a 15 percent increase to a population of 17,509 in one plan and a rate increase of 22 percent to 890 people in another plan, a federal spokesman said.
The spokesman said the company would not meet the federal 80-20 loss-ratio standard, which says 80 cents out of every dollar in premiums should be spent on medical care rather than administrative costs.
"Thanks to the Affordable Care Act consumers in every state are getting a straight answer from insurance companies who raise their rates by 10 percent or higher," Sebelius said in a news release. "It's time for this company to immediately rescind these unreasonable rate hikes, issue refunds to consumers or publicly explain their refusal to do so."
The department called on Time Insurance to stop the rate increase from going into effect or explain why it is needed.