Finance issue brief: mandated benefits

By enacting legislation to mandate a health insurance benefit, legislators require health plans to provide coverage for particular treatments, screenings, prescriptions and providers. During the 1998 state legislative sessions, several new and somewhat controversial mandates emerged at the forefront of discussion, including coverage for contraceptives, general anesthesia for dental procedures and newborn hearing screening. In 1999, all three of these mandates and others have gained speed as some sessions hit their midpoints and many adjourn.