Yvonne Selcer is increasing health insurance costs for business

This year the state passed a mandate to require insurance companies cover a controversial autism therapy, intensive early intervention behavioral therapy (IEIBT) for people covered by fully-insured businesses with over 50 lives. As we consider what benefits to mandate or cover in Minnesota, we should remain focused on the Triple Aim of improving the health of the population while improving patient experience and reducing the cost of health care. Coverage should always be based on evidence, not emotion. External, independent national organizations such as the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality continue to rate the evidence for IEIBT as "Poor". Not only is this mandate controversial, but it is extremely expensive - ranging up to $100,000 a year, per child (up to 18 years of age). It's probably the most expensive mandate ever imposed on business by the folks in St. Paul (Thanks Yvonne). Conveniently, those legislators exempted themselves and other state employees from the expense of having to pay for it out their own premiums until at least 2016 (outside the current budget cycle). The state also declined to extend coverage to individuals and people employed by small businesses because that would have required the state pay a share of the cost, and apparently it wasn't a high enough priority for the state to allocate the money for it - but again they were happy to let businesses that don't receive any help from the state shoulder the costs. The language to put this mandate in place was added to a 700-page bill at the very last moment in a conference committee, late at night, when the public wasn't watching. It wasn't made available to the public until the last moment and there was never any notice given it would be. It's the sort of behind the scenes shenanigans that makes people distrust the legislative process. This mandate will inevitably drive more businesses to self-insure to escape all of these regulations and burdensome taxes, which will hurt the overall insurance market and further drive up costs. When you get your insurance increase next year you can thank Obama care and Yvonne Selcer.