The Trump administration just took a major swing at state-level healthcare mandates.
Under a newly finalized policy from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, states that pass new insurance benefit mandates onto Obamacare plans after 2011 are now required to pay the cost themselves.
For years, state lawmakers have been able to introduce new insurance mandates with little concern about who ultimately pays. The answer, of course, has always been consumers through higher premiums.
But beginning in 2028, if a state adds benefits beyond Obamacare’s federally defined Essential Health Benefits package, the state itself could be required to defray the cost.
CMS made clear that outcome is intentional.
“To the extent commenters are concerned that the proposal may reduce incentives for States to enact new mandates, we note that this is an intended effect,” the agency wrote in the final rule.
In plain English: if North Carolina lawmakers create “Obamacare-plus” mandates, North Carolina taxpayers will have to pay for them directly.
This creates a major financial risk for the state and its taxpayers.
“This policy ensures that the party responsible for mandating the benefit (the State) is also responsible for defraying its costs,” CMS wrote.
Just last year, lawmakers in the General Assembly advanced multiple new mandates the state might have to pay for should they be passed into law.
With its new rule, the Trump Administration is clearly telling states that adding new mandated benefits on top of Obamacare’s Essential Health Benefits is exactly that: Obamacare-plus. Bigger government. More mandates. Higher costs.
And now potentially a multimillion-dollar taxpayer liability.
With taxpayers officially on the hook for higher healthcare costs, we hope lawmakers will pause before passing new mandates.
