Insurers warn SB 178 assessment will raise premiums and flagged legal risks

Executives and lobbyists from major insurers told the committee SB 178 as drafted would increase premiums for fully insured employers and consumers because carriers pass the assessment through to purchasers. Mark Reese of CVS Health/Aetna said a provision equalizing assessments across carriers could impose an outsized per‑member hit on insurers that do not sell individual market coverage: "That is a $480 increase in our enrollees health insurance to pay for programs that are incredibly valuable but that we will never be part of as Aetna."