I will soon introduce legislation that places a moratorium on all new state health insurance mandates, which impose additional coverage requirements on insurers operating in Pennsylvania. This moratorium aims to protect small business owners, individual policyholders, and families from escalating premiums and the financial pressures caused by government mandates. Every new mandate forces insurers to adjust coverage, which ultimately translates into higher premiums for policyholders--individuals and families purchasing insurance.

Legislative health insurance mandates require insurers to cover specific services or treatments beyond federal requirements. These mandates disproportionately burden the small group market, where costs are already high and risk pools are more limited.

Section 514 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) preempts self-insured plans from state insurance mandates or regulations. See 29 U.S.C.   1144. Therefore, larger businesses with self-insured plans do not have to follow these state law coverage mandates. However, our businesses that are not self-insured must follow these mandate requirements. Therefore, the government artificially creates an unfair advantage for self-insured businesses. See https://www.mercatus.org/research/journal-articles/do-health-insurance-benefit-mandates-discourage-employment.

This legislation will allow policymakers to fully assess the economic impact of existing mandates on policyholders and small businesses. It will also ensure that new mandates undergo a rigorous cost-benefit analysis to avoid unintended consequences that harm affordability and access to care.

I urge you to co-sponsor this critical legislation to alleviate unnecessary cost burdens on small businesses and protect the affordability of health insurance for all Pennsylvanians. If you have any questions or wish to co-sponsor, please feel free to contact me.