The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published proposed consumer disclosure notices that insurers would be required to complete and report electronically when they propose rate increases more than 10%. These proposed notices are related to the Affordable Care Act premium rate review regulation that the Department of Health and Human Services issued in December 2010, which would apply to nongrandfathered insurance plans in the individual and small group markets.

The notices help consumers know what their insurance companies are proposing while the rate increase requests are being reviewed, according to CMS.

“People have been kept in the dark when it comes to the reasons behind their health insurance rate increases,” said Steve Larsen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. “The information reported by insurers would provide an unprecedented level of transparency in the health insurance market, promoting competition, encouraging insurers to do more to control health care costs, and discouraging insurers from charging rates that are unreasonable.”