Health Insurance Mandates 2012
Health Insurance Mandates 2012. The Councel for Affordable Health Insurance in VA released their annual “Health Insurance Mandates in the States” for 2012 last week. While NYS did not crack the top 5 they did come close at number 7 this year.
NYS Mandates were discussed in our posting Empire Leaving Small Groups Nov 2011. ” Today, we have so many State mandates that many of the mandates(overage dependents coverage, preventive care, pre-existing for kids) in PPACA didnt even affect NY since they were already in place. Mandates account for approx 17% of the costs of which Small Businesses pay more than fair share. Large corporations and Unions can self insure and avoid some mandates as they are governed by ERISA and not State. To the relief of of our struggling clients on subsidized Healthy NY the State doesn’t play by their own rules and instead opts out of its very own mandates.”
According to the study CAHI Identifies 2,271 State Health Insurance Mandates “The sheer number of state mandates will make it difficult for states to deliver on one of the key promises repeatedly made by supporters of Obamacare: it would provide all Americans with affordable health coverage. The essential health benefit plan design was supposed to give states the flexibility to craft benefit packages which would be suitable and affordable for their unique populations. But HHS shackled the states to the full load of mandated benefits on their books, and the prices of next year’s offerings in the health insurance exchanges are going to bear witness to the free-wheeling mandate craze of the last twenty years. Recent studies have predicted double digit increases in health insurance premiums next year — the mandates are coming home to roost,” said Roy Ramthun, CAHI’s Director of Federal Affairs.”
Most Mandated Benefits | Least Mandated Benefits | Most Popular Mandates | Least Popular Mandates | |||||
| Rhode Island | 69 | Idaho | 13 | Mammography Screening | 50 | Breast Implant Removal | 1 | |
| Maryland | 67 | Alabama | 19 | Maternity Minimum Stay | 50 | Cardiovascular Disease Screening | 1 | |
| Virginia | 66 | Michigan | 24 | Breast Reconstruction | 49 | Circumcision | 1 | |
| Minnesota | 65 | Iowa | 26 | Mental Health Parity | 48 | Gastric Electrical Stimulation | 1 | |
| Connecticut | 65 | Utah | 26 | Alcohol & Substance Abuse | 46 | Organ Transplant Donor Coverage | 1 | |
The rest of the study can be downloaded Executive Summary.
A Health Summary on Mandates by New York State’s Employer Alliance for Affordable
 | The United Hospital Fun estimates that approximately 2.2 million New Yorkers lacked insurance coverage in 2009, (Health Insurance Coverage in New York 2009.) |
| The collective cost of paying for New York’s health insurance mandates equates to 12.2% of overall premium cost. Based on 2008 premiums, this translates into $1,538 expense per year for an average family policy and $566 per year for a single person policy. (Employer Alliance, NYS Mandated Health Insurance Benefits, 2003) |
| Higher health care costs increase the number of uninsured. In New York, it is estimated that for every 1% increase in premiums, 30,000 New Yorkers lose health insurance. (Barents Group, 1999) |
| Mandates have a cumulative impact on premium costs. It is estimated that the cost of the 12 most common mandates can increase the cost of health insurance by as much as 30%. (Milliman and Robertson 1996) |
| Rising health care costs have the biggest impact on the small business sector. For every 1% increase in premium costs, small business sponsorship of health insurance drops by 2.6%. (Morrisey et al., 1994) |
| The percentage of US small business workers receiving insurance through their employer declined 5% between 1996 and 1998 – from 52% in 1996 to 47% in 1998. (KPMG Peat Marwick, 1999) |
| Nearly one of every four uninsured Americans has no health care coverage as the direct result of state mandates. (Jensen, Morrisey, 1999) |
| Health insurance premiums for New York’s working families skyrocketed between 2000 & 2007 increasing by 80.7 percent. (Families versus Paychecks, Families USA 2008) |
| Since 1999, family premiums for employer-sponsored health coverage have increased by 131 percent, placing increasing cost burdens on employers and workers. (Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust. Employer Health Benefits 2009 Annual Survey. September 2009). |
Small Business Helpful links:
the HIT is actually a hidden tax on small business. PPACA assesses a tax on all health insurance companies based on their “net premiums” written. The tax will raise $8 billion starting in 2014, $14.3 billion in 2018 and more in later years. This is [aid for by fully insured health plans which are comprised mostly by small businesses.
| Business Council of NYS http://www.bcnys.org |
| Coalition for Affordable Health Insurance http://www.cahi.org |
| National Center For Policy Analysis http://www.ncpa.org |
| New York Blue Cross and Blue Shield http://www.nysblues.org |
| North East Business Group on Health http://www.nebgh.org |
| National Federation of Independent Business http://www.nfib.com |
| New York State Assembly http://www.assembly.state.ny.us |
| New York State Senate http://www.senate.state.ny.us |
| NY Health Plan Association http://www.nyhpa.org |
| Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council http://www.phc4.org |
| Small Business Survival Committee |
| NYS Department of Financial Services http://www.dfs.ny.gov |
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