Oct 13, 2020
In a recent Notice, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara asked all health insurance and specialized health insurance companies to provide a partial premium refund to policyholders since many consumers are deferring medical treatments and procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Notice asks health insurance companies to provide premium refunds on the November 2020 or December 2020 consumer statements in the form of a refund, credit, premium reduction, or other adjustment.
The Department has already worked with two health insurance companies that proactively sought to provide premium credits to their policy and certificate holders in the individual and group markets, returning 5% to 15% of their July 2020 premium. Two other health insurance companies are working with the Department in considering such credits.
Specialized health insurance policies, such as dental insurance, that have a maximum annual benefit may also comply with this request by increasing the 2021 annual benefit by a percentage equal to the period during which covered services were not available during 2020. For example, as dental practices were essentially closed for a quarter of the calendar year 2020, the 2021 maximum benefit would be increased by at least 25%.
