California should pause new health insurance mandates amid rising costs | Opinion

California businesses are facing cost pressures on all fronts — from rent, utilities, labor, materials and rising cost of living expenses. On top of that, employers are paying the ever-increasing cost of providing health care coverage for employees and their families at a time when costs are skyrocketing and the likelihood of help from Washington is quickly fading.

It’s no secret that employers are struggling. Now, we need our legislators to listen.

California lawmakers say they have made affordability a top priority. But it’s time to put that to the test. Businesses that provide health benefits are counting on leaders to match that commitment with action.

One clear way to do that is by suspending any proposals for costly new health care mandates for one year. In 2025 alone, California lawmakers introduced mandates totaling an estimated $2.8 billion.

That’s why last year, businesses and groups across the state, including chambers of commerce, local business organizations and small and midsized employers, came together to form a new coalition: California Businesses for Affordable Health Care (CABAH). Our goal was simple: urge lawmakers to oppose costly health care mandates that further increase health care costs and threaten employers’ ability to offer health benefits.

Fortunately, Gov. Gavin Newsom last year vetoed many proposed mandates that made it to his desk. In one veto message he said that “at a time when consumers are facing double-digit rate increases in their health care premiums across the nation, passing additional policies that would lead to further premium increases would be irresponsible.”

This year, we’re taking our message a step further: We’re urging lawmakers to prioritize the ability of employers to continue offering affordable, high-quality coverage by resisting the passage of any new, costly health care mandate bills.

If mandate bills make their way through the legislature, we urge lawmakers to consider the real-world impact on employers who are trying to do the right thing by offering necessary health care benefits to their employees and oppose legislation that drives costs even higher.

Now is not the time to increase costs on hardworking Californians. Federal budget decisions are creating uncertainty around health care affordability, and employer-sponsored family premiums have already increased 26% over the past five years, largely driven by increased pharmaceutical and hospital costs, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study. New health care mandates will only worsen the problem by increasing premiums even further.

California should be moving toward a more sustainable approach to managing health care costs. The creation of the Office of Health Care Affordability in 2022 signaled an important step forward. But when lawmakers continue introducing new health care mandates, they undermine that progress, stacking expensive requirements without accounting for their cumulative impact on employers and employees alike. These conflicting priorities send mixed signals to the businesses struggling most with affordability.

As a leader of a statewide chamber of commerce, I’m familiar with how my members and California businesses are navigating murky financial waters. For many employers, the impacts of legislative health care mandates on employer premiums are not marginal. Businesses can be forced to delay hiring, limit wage increases or reconsider if they are able to offer health care coverage at all.

Policymakers often say they share the goal of affordability. It’s time that their legislative actions reflect it. This is the year to resist adding more costs to a health care system that is already way too expensive.

Jay King is president and CEO of the California Black Chamber of Commerce.

This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 5:00 AM.