Georgia Lawmakers Reach Agreement on Autism Bill

Date: April 14, 2015

Senate members voted to pass a bill that could increase healthcare costs for small business.

A long-debated healthcare bill requiring coverage for young children with autism passed the Georgia Senate March 31. Later, an amended version passed House April 2. House Bill 429 requires insurance companies to provide coverage for certain behavioral therapy for young children with autism.

After several groups and lawmakers spoke out against the additional costs the bill would bring to small business, the original version of the bill underwent some changes. NFIB/Georgia state director Kyle Jackson testified against the bill while it remained in committee, warning that insurance mandates may lead to fewer companies providing coverage to their employees.

“The last thing [small employers] need is for new mandates to be passed along in the form of higher premiums,” Jackson said in his testimony in January. “Some of them may just decide to opt-out of employer-sponsored insurance altogether.”

The House version uses much of the same language as Senate Bill 1, a bill that has been debated for nearly two years and stalled in the past over disagreements between the House and Senate.

In late March, Rep. Richard Smith, sponsor of the House bill, and Sen. Charlie Bethel, sponsor of SB 1, announced they had reached a compromise on the legislation.

The bill that passed the Senate reached a coverage cap of $30,000, a drop from the $35,000 coverage in the previous version of the bill. Other provisions remained the same including limiting coverage to children younger than six years old with autism. Additionally, businesses with fewer than 10 employees are exempt from the mandated coverage as well as large businesses that self-insure employee coverage.

With the additional coverage, more businesses may see their healthcare costs rise.

“The fact of the matter is that there will be a new financial burden placed on small employers and their employees,” Jackson said. “What’s easy for politicians to forget is that there’s only so much money in the till, and these mandates are tantamount to a hidden tax on employers.”

Whenever insurance mandates are passed, the burden fall on small business. In some cases, business owners may have to raise prices or reduce staff to make ends meet.

“When the cost of health insurance goes up, employers have to find the money some place,” Jackson explained. “That could mean reducing everyone’s hours or leaving vacant jobs unfilled or cutting staff.”

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