Legislators focus on keeping health insurance costs down

Lawmakers passed few mandated benefit bills but did expand public assistance in several states this year.

By Joel B. Finkelstein, AMNews staff. July 12, 2004.

Washington -- Health-related measures not passed by state legislatures this year are as notable as the ones they did pass.

For starters, the number of new mandated health benefits hit an all-time low, according to data collected by the BlueCross BlueShield Assn.

Such mandates come in two varieties: They require that all plans in the state pay for a specific procedure, test or treatment or that plans offer a product that pays for such services.

Either way, there were only eight such measures approved this year, down from 25 last year.

Critics charge that with each mandate added, the cost of health insurance increases for everyone in the state.

"A lot of lawmakers are cautious about doing anything that could cause prices to rise," said Susan Laudicina, director of state services research at the association.

However, there are other factors which may be behind the drop-off, said Richard Cauchi, health care program manager with the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Most state legislatures focus on getting the bulk of laws passed during the first half of a session, which was last year. Several were in limited session this year, working exclusively on their budgets.

That said, the recent performance does seem to confirm a trend in which state lawmakers feel they have put in place adequate protections and are moving on to other areas of regulation, said Cauchi.

Another explanation: Lawmakers have come to believe that mandates can do as much harm as good.