New Jersey Mandated Health Benefits
Advisory Commission Recommends Enactment of Assembly Bill 333
Requires all health insurers to cover alcohol and drug addiction
under same terms and conditions as for other diseases or illnesses
and revises statutory mental health coverage requirements.
Key Alcohol and Drug Addiction Parity Findings:
The cost
impact of A-333 on health insurance premiums to meet the requirement
to provide treatment for alcohol and drug addiction range from 0.1%
to 0.2%.
The overall
cost impact of A-333 on health insurance premiums is estimated to
be in the range of 0.3% to 0.7%, with most of the increase in cost,
ranging from 0.2% to 0.5%, attributed to the new mental health mandates.
Approximately
26% of New Jersey residents are estimated to have mental health
illnesses and/or alcohol and drug addictions.
Full parity
should result in an increase in the number of mental health and
addiction providers.
Parity
can result in earlier treatment of addictions, which may result
in fewer addiction-related incarcerations and fewer accidents.
The financial
burden to the specific residents with mental health illnesses and
alcohol / drug addiction can be devastating while the overall cost
estimates for the proposed mandated benefits are low in total (0.3%
to 0.7%).
Mental
illness and addictions are chronic conditions that must be treated
throughout the lifetime of the individual.
An HMO
providing unlimited coverage for alcohol abuse treatment lowered
the other medical costs for these individuals and paid for these
expenses in just 18 months.
The cost
impact of A-333 on health insurance premiums to meet the requirement
to provide treatment for alcohol and drug addiction range from 0.1%
to 0.2%.
