MEMORANDUM IN OPPOSITION

Date: March 2010

Bill: S7000 (Breslin)/A10372 (Morelle)
Act to amend the insurance law in relation to Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The Employer Alliance for Affordable Health Care is a grassroots coalition of more than 3,000 sole proprietors and small and medium-sized business owners who represent more than 150,000 working New Yorkers. Our members believe that everyone should have access to basic, affordable health insurance. We oppose health insurance mandates that increase premium costs and decrease accessibility of basic, affordable health insurance.

The Employer Alliance opposes this legislation for the following reasons:

• Before adopting this or any other mandated benefit, the Legislature must first seat the Health Care Quality and Cost Containment Commission to provide an independent body that will study the full medical and financial impact of this legislation PRIOR to approval. This is a broad-based mandate and to date, the cost remains widely unknown, with estimates by the, Department of Insurance placed at 2%. In Pennsylvania, that state’s Health Care Cost Containment Council, placed the increase resulting from that state’s mandate – which sets a monetary cap on treatment - as high as 6%. Based on even the most conservative estimate, this legislation threatens to increase health care costs by $540 million per year.
• Unlike other health insurance mandates, S.7000 requires private insurers to cover treatments that are educational and not medically-related. Medical conditions associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder are currently covered under private health insurance policies.
• This legislation is an open invitation to increase health care costs, with diagnosis expected to increase by as much as 17% each year. Historically, mandated coverage results in greater utilization and subsequent costs.

As the Legislature continues to grapple with the problem of exorbitant health care costs and decreased access, state lawmakers must ensure that individuals with insurance maintain their coverage. Adding any new mandates to private health insurance will have the opposite impact than intended - increasing both health care costs and the number of uninsured.

For these reasons, the Employer Alliance for Affordable Health Care asks you to oppose this legislation.

The Employer Alliance for Affordable Health Care is a coalition of more than 3,400 employers and individuals from across New York, representing more than 200,000 working New Yorkers, committed to preserving quality affordable health care.