“The United States clearly has a problem of out-of-control health care costs… The ACA takes steps to limit the boundless profiteering that has become customary in the U.S. health care system…

States have two new tools to prevent health plans from gouging consumers. First, 46 states have received grants from the US Department of Health and Human Services to investigate premium rate increases. This funding will give states the resources to review the complicated actuarial explanations filed by insurance companies and to judge whether premium increases are justified. In addition, plans will now be required to devote a minimum percentage of their premium revenue to medical care instead of administration, executive salaries, profits, lobbying and administrative waste. Plans will owe their customers rebates if they fail to spend at least 80 percent (individual and small group) or 85 percent (large group) of premium dollars on medical expenses…

The ACA is an important step toward significant health reform. Until we control the behavior of business corporations in the health care sector, as parts of the law begin to do, Americans will continue to grapple with extraordinarily high health care costs.”