NAHU Position Statement on Federal Health Benefit Mandates

NAHU is opposed to the federal government getting into the health benefit mandating business, such as was done for mental health parity. The content of insurance policies has been a matter decided by the states as part of their overall health insurance regulatory responsibility, and that is where it should remain. NAHU urges, therefore, that the Congress and the President not impose any further federal benefit mandates.

Benefit mandates add to the cost of health insurance, as has been demonstrated at the state level. Estimates are that there are now over 1000 benefit mandates in existence, which various studies have shown add as much as 25% to the cost of insurance premiums. The more mandates that are imposed, the more people for whom health insurance becomes unaffordable, and the greater the number of uninsured.

The mental health parity mandate enacted in 1996 is likely to add further to the cost of insurance (an 8.4% to 11.4% increase, according to one study).

Furthermore, that action on mental health has opened the door to other demands for federal benefit mandates, such as with regard to mastectomies and emergency room care.

The more mandating the federal government does, the more the demands for specialized mandates from all the special interest disease groups. Once the train gets a full head of steam, there may be no stopping it, and the result will be another major new federal regulatory bureaucracy.

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