Mandated Health Insurance Benefits and State Laws
Updated: January 2011; material added July 2011
For more than two decades, state legislators have regularly debated and enacted "mandates" or required health coverage for specific treatments, benefits, providers and categories of dependents. States continue to debate whether such mandates actually ensure adequate protection for their constituents or further increase their health care costs. Listed below are some useful resources and links that provide background, information and examples of state legislation regarding mandated coverage.
Federal Health Reform Law - the 2010 Affordable Care Act will have siginificant effects on existing state mandate laws. Some mandate-style services will be assured of coverage in all 50 states under federal law. Other state-specified mandates may not be covered within the American Health Benefit Exchanges that will coordinate health insurance offerings beginning in 2014. See NCSL Health Reform resource web site for more information
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NCSL Tables & Other Documents
Please see links at the right of this page.
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NCSL Publications & Related Internet Sites
Health Insurance Coverage Mandates: Are They Too Costly? - An in depth look at current state mandate laws, totaling more 1,900 across all 50 states, and the recent initiatives to require cost and effectiveness reviews and design mandate-free and mandate-light alternatives.
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Recent State Mandate Studies and Evaluations
Other Websites and Useful Links*
California Health Policy Roundtable: Mandated Health Insurance Benefits: Tradeoffs Among Benefits, Coverage and Costs. (.pdf)
Council for Affordable Health Insurance: 50- state mandate information. (2010 Edition, PDF format)
and State Legislators' Guide to Health Insurance Solutions. (.pdf)
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
Heritage Foundation- How Health Insurance Mandates Misdiagnose the Disease
National Center for Policy Analysis- The Cost of Health Insurance Mandates, Mandate-Lite Policies Piece (July 9, 2007)
PriceWaterhouseCoopers- The Factors Fueling Rising Healthcare Costs, 2008.
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill- State Mental Health Parity Background Piece and State by State Chart
State Coverage Initiatives (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)- Report on Limited-Benefit Plans (mandate-lite).
*NOTE: NCSL provides links to other Web sites from time to time for information purposes only. Providing these links does not necessarily indicate NCSL's support or endorsement of the site.
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This page compiled by Karmen Hanson; 2010 updates by Richard Cauchi and Andrew Thangasamy - NCSL Health Program, Denver.
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