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About
the Employer Alliance for Affordable Health Care |
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In 1997, a handful of individuals and private business owners founded the Employer Alliance for Affordable Health Care in response to lawmakers' passage of the "Chiropractic Care Act." Adding this single service to the basic health care package has increased the cost of health insurance by $110 million annually. Employer Alliance members are united for a common cause and are helping to spread the word on why state mandates are detrimental to businesses in New York State.
Why Do We Oppose Health Insurance Mandates?
All health insurance mandates are accompanied by compelling stories of needy
individuals or families unable to access health services because their employer's
insurance policy does not cover the service. However, there is another side
of mandates that must be considered – one that suggests mandating these
services can be counterproductive to the goal of providing people with even
basic coverage.
To increase access to health care, insurance must be affordable. Unfortunately, health insurance costs in New York have risen substantially in each of the past three years. Premiums continue to rise at two to three time the rate of inflation- see chart below. New York's health care costs exceed the national average by 26%.
The impact of increasing health care costs in New York is evident in the number of people who have NO INSURANCE in New York State. Most of these people are working. According to the United Hospital Fund, more than 63% of New York's three million people without insurance work full-time.
Who Is Covered By Mandates And Who Pays?
It is estimated that more than 25% of people with
insurance in New York, are not covered by state mandates. Why? Because large
companies with sufficient capital can underwrite their own insurance benefits,
or "self-insure." Self-insured companies have no obligation to provide
state mandated benefits to their employees. The result: those least able to
pay higher health care premiums – small and medium sized employers are
saddled with the extra costs brought on by these mandates.
Are Mandates A Threat In New York?
This year our legislators will consider more than
100 hundred proposals that will require employers to provide additional health
care benefits including:
Contact Us
- Requiring plans to provide access to "philosopher practitioners"
- Acupuncture
- Hearing aids
- Adoption costs
- Infertility treatment
- Massage therapy
- Travel expenses
- Wigs
PO Box 1412
Albany, NY 12201-1412
Telephone: 518.462.2296
Fax: 518.462.2195
e-mail: employeralliance@yahoo.com
The Employer Alliance is incorporated under Section 402 of the Business Corporation Law and registered with the New York State Lobbying Commission.
