New insurance mandates in Connecticut incite criticism from the business community

Connecticut Business Health InsuranceConnecticut lawmakers have introduced a bevy of new health insurance mandates that may drive up the cost of insurance in the state. These sorts of mandates have been popular amongst legislators in recent years. Most of these provisions are confronted with a tide of opposition from the state’s business community who say that increased costs will reach excessive levels and stop employers from providing health benefits. Lawmakers, however, are sure that the benefits of the mandates serve the greater good.

Among the mandates in a provision to expand the coverage requirements for patients participating in clinical trials focused around certain cancers. Another disallows the state’s insurance companies from requiring its policyholders to partake in over-the-counter drugs as a preliminary form of pain treatment before seeking doctor-approved treatments. On paper, the mandates are designed with the consumers best interest in mind. Insurance companies, however, will have to adjust rates where they can to account for the breadth of coverage they are now required to offer.

Concerns regarding the new mandates are backed by a 2010 study from the University of Connecticut Center for Public Health and Health Policy. According to the report, the 45 new policies enacted last year in regards to health insurance were responsible for a 22% leap in insurance rates over the entirety of the year.

Lawmakers and supporters of the new mandates argue that such estimates are grossly overstated and hold that consumers will be better protected because of these mandates.

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