Some Tennesseans to Receive Insurance Refunds

The federal government says Tennesseans are due more than 28 million dollars in refunds from their health insurers. Some will get checks, but most will see their refund in other ways.

A provision in the federal healthcare law requires insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of the money they get in premiums on patient care. If they spend less than that, they’re supposed to issue refunds.

If you’re in an employee-based plan, that money goes to your company. They can decide to give all or part of it to you. Or the company could use it to lower your premium. But if you buy insurance on your own, you should be seeing a check from the insurance company.

The state’s largest insurance company, BlueCross BlueShield, met the government’s requirement employer-based plans. But, BlueCross will be issuing about eight million dollars in refunds to people who buy insurance directly.

There’s no exact number of how many Tennesseans will get refunds, because there so many insurance companies and plans. However, the federal government says checks must be in the mail before the end of August.