{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2635", "Sen. Franken?s Health Reform Provision: Making Sure Premium Dollars Work for Consumers, Not Just Insurance Companies", "2013-12-16", "2013", "2013-12", "Democrat", "House", "MN", "Al Franken", "F000457", "franken.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), author of one of the most significant cost-saving measures in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), released figures highlighting the benefits of the law, including his tough rule to ensure that Americans receive value for their premium dollars. If insurance companies don't meet the new standards established by the ACA, insurers have to send consumers a rebate. In 2012, more than 9,000 consumers in Minnesota benefited from an average rebate of approximately $300 per family.\nBecause of Sen. Franken's Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) provision in the health reform law, insurance companies must spend at least 80-85 percent of premium dollars on medical care and efforts to improve the quality of care, instead of things like marketing and CEO salaries. In 2012, nearly 80 million consumers saved $3.4 billion upfront on their premiums because of Sen. Franken's rule, along with other ACA programs. And insurers sent 8.5 million enrollees an average rebate of approximately $100 per family.\n\"Minnesotans' health care premium dollars shouldn't be spent on marketing or huge bonuses for executives-they should go toward paying for actual health care,\" said Sen. Franken. \"Making sure we keep the cost of health care in check has been a top priority of mine since coming to the Senate. I'm very pleased that so many people in Minnesota and across the country are benefiting from the cost-saving measure I authored.\"\nThe health care law also requires insurance companies to publicly post and justify any proposed rate increase of 10 percent or more. Across the country, insurers are withdrawing or decreasing proposed rate hikes, benefiting families as well the economy.\nHelping middle class families take advantage of the benefits of the health care law, such as making sure Minnesotans' premium dollars work for them and not just insurance companies, should be a top priority for lawmakers in Washington. Yet instead of working to fix the law, a minority in Congress has voted to repeal the health care law more than 40 times. They even shut down the government to prevent new benefits like health care costs savings for millions of Americans and businesses that allow our economy to grow and create jobs. Sen. Franken authored the MLR provision during the debate on health care reform. It was inspired by Minnesota's long-standing Medical Loss Ratio law and the state's non-profit health insurers, which are national leaders in keeping administrative costs low.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2635"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.2053289469331503, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}