Employers should not be forced to pay for unlimited healthcare coverage for such dubious behavioral problems as "fetishism," "malingering," caffeine addiction and "identity problems," NJBIA told the Assembly Health and Humans Services Committee today.

The bill, A-2487 (Weinberg), would require unlimited health insurance coverage for an expanded list of behavioral problems in addition to the current "biologically-based mental or nervous conditions" that are covered now. The bill would expand coverage to nearly 400 "behavioral disorders" by forcing health insurance plans to cover anything listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

For a complete list of disorders covered in the Diagnostic and StatisticalManual of Mental Disorders, go to http://www.cyberview-usa.com/swf/types/dsmiv.html

Kelly Stewart Maer, NJBIA assistant vice president for Health Affairs, said this mandate would devastate employers who are already experiencing double digit increases in the cost of providing health benefits for their employees.

"Employers and employees alike should be outraged by this measure," Maer said. "Forcing employers to pay for treatments for such things as fetishes, caffeine addiction or sibling relational problems will have a huge impact on employers. Employees will be forced to pay higher copayments and higher deductibles and could even lose their healthcare coverage altogether."

"Employers are experiencing runaway health insurance inflation as well as struggling to survive in a weak economy," Maer pointed out. "To add this massive list of healthcare coverage mandates to a system that is already stretched to the limit makes no sense."

"We should be looking for ways to control the costs of healthcare and rein in the impact of these legislative healthcare mandates, not adding to the problem," Maer said. "NJBIA supports the creation of a healthcare mandates advisory commission to control the number and the costs of healthcare mandates. Studies show that these mandates can account for up to 20 percent of the cost of health insurance."

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