New rule requires private health plans to provide user-friendly summaries

Obama administration officials announced on Thursday that later this year, private insurance plans will be required to provide enrollees with an easy-to-understand summary of what is covered, along with cost details such as copays and deductibles (Source: “Feds require consumer-friendly health plan summaries,” Associated Press via Cleveland Plain Dealer, Feb. 9, 2012).

The summaries must be no longer than six pages and can not include any fine print. The administration has also released a template (pdf) that all plans must follow, which would allow for “apples to apples” comparisons of plans.

"If an insurance plan offers substandard coverage in some area, they won't be able to hide it in dozens of pages of text," said Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner, who also oversees implementation of the ACA.