8 million Americans may soon get checks from health insurers: Here’s how much you could get

More than 8 million Americans could be in line for a rebate from their health insurance provider.

The rebates come from a regulation that requires insurance companies that sell group or individual policies to meet a “medical loss ratio” to spend at least 80% of premiums on healthcare costs or expenses related to patient health. Large group plans are required to spend 85% on healthcare costs. If those figures are not met, enrollees are eligible to be reimbursed the difference.

The ratio is calculated on a rolling-three-year average so this year’s rebate comes from 2019, 2020 and 2021 data.

An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed 8.2 million Americans will be issued a total of about $1 billion in rebates, ranging from $78 for large plan enrollees to $155 a person for small plan enrollees.

The amount of the rebates can vary widely according on location and insurer. This year’s rebates will be larger than those issued in most prior years, according to the foundation’s analysis, but fall short of the record high-rebates totals of $2.6 billion in 2020 and $2 billion in 2021, increases that were mostly driven by fluctuations in the individual markets.

Enrollees who are due a rebate typically receive a check or a credit on their premium but the exact amount remains to be determined. Rebate notices are mailed out in September, followed by a federal government summary of the total amount owed each issuer in the state.

Healthcare companies will notify eligible recipients after those amounts are determined.