The New Jersey Business & Industry Association today applauded Governor James E. McGreevey's signing into law legislation that will help reign in skyrocketing health insurance costs by creating a Healthcare Mandates Advisory Commission.
NJBIA strongly supported S-2275 (Bennett, Codey, Roberts), which will now establish the commission to examine the medical, social and financial impacts of all proposed legislative healthcare mandates before legislative action is taken. This was one of the goals of NJBIA's 2003 Economic Growth Agenda.
"Year after year, employers are hit with health insurance premium increases of 10 percent, 20 percent or more. It is consistently the number one problem facing our members," NJBIA President Philip Kirschner said. "This new law is designed to address that. On behalf of the business community, I want to thank Governor McGreevey and the many legislators who worked so hard on this law."
Legislative mandates that require employers to provide coverage for specific conditions whether or not employees want or need them now account for as much as 20 percent of the entire insurance premium. Since NJBIA members pay an average of $6,325 per employee for health insurance, these mandates average about $1,265 per employee.
NJBIA member companies experienced an average premium increase of 15 percent in 2002. Over the last three years, health insurance costs have risen at a compound rate of 35 percent. Companies are expecting another 14 percent increase this year.
"The problem is each mandate may not seem very costly by itself," Kirschner said. "But taken together, they become a tremendous financial burden on employers of every size, as well as on employees and taxpayers. Legislative mandates are forcing employers to increase deductibles and copays to meet their soaring costs. These cost hikes also force state and local government to raise taxes to pay the higher premium costs for government workers."
