The expansion or creation of new assessments on health plans to fund a variety of state programs and agencies increases the cost of health care for employers and consumers. Over the last several years, more of the costs of state programs have been passed onto employers and health plans, which add to the cost of coverage. As part of its review of the cost of existing mandated benefits, the state’s Center for Health Information and Analysis has estimated that nearly $2 billion in health care costs annually are associated with mandated benefits and that mandated benefits accounted for nearly 6.5 cents of every premium dollar.
