Association needs more time for reform guidelines

An association charged with shaping a key insurance regulation as part of health care reform is telling the Obama administration it needs some more time.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners says it will provide final recommendations on the rules behind minimum medical loss ratios, or MLRs, later this summer.

MLRs measure the percentage of premiums an insurer spends on health care. Reform establishes minimum MLRs of 80 percent for individual and small group health insurance and 85 percent for large group coverage.

Insurers that fail to meet these minimums, which start next year, will have to provide customer rebates.